Burn
by EmaniaHilel
Summary: Continued -- RedX is stalking the city again. Only this time, there's a different kind of jewel he's got in mind for a prize...And this one might just burn him... Uploaded Part XI: Sizzle
1. Kindled

**A/N:** Very short. Not beta'd. I felt if I thought about posting this too much, I wouldn't post it. (And truth be told, I didn't even want to _know_ what you'd say about this one, Jurodan...((hides)) ) This is part I of II. Part II is already written and I'm posting it at the same time as part I so go look for it when you're done...although I'll love you forever if you review both. ((grin))

**Disclaimer:** Not mine. Still broke. ((sticks out tongue))

_**Burn  
**__**by Em**_

_**I: Kindled  
**_"_...to be loved is to burn. And to burn is to exist."  
_Robert Fulghum

It was just a piece of fabric, really, nothing more and nothing less. Yet, for some reason, somehow, that fabric, those colors, the feel of it changed him. It made him reckless and yet oh-so-clever; satirical yet witty, charming, irresistible, unflappable...nothing could touch him unless he _wanted_ it to and nothing he wanted was beyond his reach.

Sure, he had been good before the uniform, but after it, he was brilliant, superb: perfect.

Okay, and a little conceited.

He grinned to himself as he vaulted across the tops of buildings with ease. He grinned and it reached all the way up to his hazel eyes, even though no one would ever be able to tell through the mask. It didn't worry him though. If he wanted someone to know that he was laughing at their awkward, fumbling, bumbling pursuit, he'd stop and let them know through his body language, his voice...oh, they'd know. But he just didn't care to show off in front of these amateurs...they weren't worth the effort.

The Titans were the only ones that made this whole gig any fun...the rest of Jump City's illustrious special forces were a comedy of errors, like taking candy from the mouths of babes. And it had been this suit, this uniform, this congregation of black and red, all jagged lines and sharp edges that transformed him from simple cat burglar to Super Thief: from another nameless prowler on the loose into the notorious Red X.

The suit had given him his identity, too. The other clothes he wore, during the day in public, while he went through the motions of living, that was the real costume...this, he paused in his ruminations to propel himself through the air and land in a perfect crouch on a roof a few feet away from his second target for the night, this was the real him after all.

He really had to thank the Boy Blunder some day.

He smiled behind the mask again, not bothering to worry about his pursuers who he had lost almost as soon as he had taken off and focused only on the group of multi-colored teens eight stories below him. Any minute now, he calculated, they would be getting the word that he had struck and that the police squad had failed in capturing him. He felt somewhat less spurned as he quickly took in the reason why they hadn't come after him. The ridiculous old man in the top hat and white gloves was being led into the secured armored truck and X shook his head. Would they never learn, he wondered? How many times would they put the bad guys behind bars just to have to do it all over again once they escaped? This cat and mouse game they played was fun, he knew, but how much fun could it be for them to keep capturing the same old same old time after time?

It was so much more fun being bad than it was being good...

Bird Boy had tasted it, he knew. He couldn't have created such a supremely perfect armor such as this, he couldn't have worn it and used it without having felt the thrill of power and the fun. He had tasted it and still denied his desire of it and gone back to being a good little boy. X didn't understand how he could have done it, or why, but he felt he did understand something of the Titans' leader and so he felt it was unsurprisingly expected that he would.

The other one, however...the Dark One, she felt the draw of it...he could feel that too. He had fought her and seen the intensity in her eyes, the desire, the passion. It was like a carefully banked fire that was just waiting to be let go...just waiting for its chance to spread it's wings and burn its way free.

X was intrigued by it and drawn to it.

It was what had awakened his realization of the so-called Dark Witch. She was called the Ice Queen in the tabloids and by the reporters, she was the unemotional one of the bunch, the cold one...but what he had seen in her eyes when she fought had been anything but cold...it had been fire: hot and fervent and just this side of dangerous and he wanted very much to reach out and touch it...

He wanted to be the one to kindle that fire and see how high he could get it to burn, to feel the licks of the flame nip at him, maybe even consume him.

Nobody else was worthy enough to try. That fire inside her would burn anyone else, he knew that. And although he knew better than to think he could control it if he set it loose, he was willing to take the risk.

Life was all about risks, he decided, risks you took and risks you avoided, and it was the risks that shaped who you were...and he wanted very much to see how her fire would shape him.

And if it hadn't been for the Red-X uniform, he never would've been that close to her and sensed that fire...He _really_ had to thank Wonder Blunder for _that_ if nothing else.

The call came to their communicators just as soon as the truck left with the lunatic magician.

"Red X stole the Blue Diamond d'Orsay from the National Museum!" the nameless voice announced through the static of the connection, "He was last seen headed West."

"How long ago?" Robin asked.

"Ten minutes..."

"We're on it," Robin snapped the lid closed and turned to his team, "Cyborg, check the GPS system for any erratic movement, Beast Boy, take to the air and sweep the area between the museum and this general direction, Raven take the East, Starfire, the North, I'll cover the ground..."

His team, well trained and accustomed to working together, didn't bother with vocal confirmations, just started for their assigned areas.

He could wait until she was alone and face her then, but he had a plan. Plus...what fun would that be?

Well...it could be fun, but not the _same_ kind of fun and His Little Raven wasn't ready for that kind of game yet.

But in front of her friends, he could play a very different kind of game with her.

He smiled and dove off the roof in a graceful arc.

And teleported right in the midst of them. "No need to hurry off on my account," he drawled.

All five people reacted immediately, reaching out for him with varying powers and appendages, but he had been prepared for that and teleported away from the grasping hands behind Raven, intending to slip his arms between her arms and body, bringing them up to an awkward angle and immobilize her that way, but if she were that easy, he might not be interested in her at all: she sensed his appearance and whirled around, advancing on him before he had fully materialized his feet onto the ground. He didn't want to disappear again, so he met her blow with a block of his own and in the few moments it took the others to realize what he had done, they danced alone.

To her credit, she advanced alone, never once trying to call out to the others for help; she only focused her eyes on the hollow that stood for eyes on the mask he wore as she fought, giving him that much sought after glimpse at the passion that burned just below the surface of their lavender depths. And to her ultimate credit, she didn't try to use her powers but fought him blow for blow.

A part of him realized this and took the tidbit of information about her and tucked it away in a safe place for further inspection.

Meanwhile, her friends had realized that Raven was fighting him and they slipped into their attack formation, and the game had finally begun.

They were as smooth as a well oiled machine when they worked together, he had expected that and he toyed with them for a bit, defending and attacking just enough to keep their attention, but _his_ attention never left the object of his...well, his desire.

And she was smart enough to realize it.

So was the Boy Blunder.

He had anticipated that as well.

What he hadn't anticipated was the vehemence which the realization brought out in the Titan's leader. His attack suddenly became more personal, less about formation and teamwork and more about personally attacking him.

X was a good judge of character and an excellent judge of opportunity and he recognized this new one and exploited it as if he had prepared for it as well as he had prepared for the others.

Once he had disabled them all but Raven, he threw a half-hearted x at her, which she easily dodged, just as he thought she would. He saluted her cockily and leaped for the nearest building rooftop, knowing she would follow.

She turned back to her teammates and he thought she might have lost her to her desire to help them, so he stopped to glance back at her.

"Thanks for letting me go, sweet thing," he called back to her, "I always knew you had a soft spot for me!"

"We are unharmed, go!" Starfire exclaimed as she struggled with her bonds.

"Get the bastard!" Beast Boy called as he struggled as well.

"Raven, wait!" Robin called, but she had already flown away. "Damn!" he exclaimed.

"What?" Cyborg asked.

"It's a trap!" Robin exclaimed, frantically trying to get out of his bindings, while at the same time watching as Raven and X go at hand to hand combat on the next roof over.

Meanwhile, Raven had managed to corner X against the brick wall of the building, her overwhelming magical presence bearing down on him as she held his dominant hand immobile against the wall and onto his neck with her right, pressing against him to keep him still, but he wasn't really struggling. He was grinning.

"If you wanted to get a piece of me, Raven, all you had to do was ask," he teased.

She didn't even falter in her hold, the way most girls would have by the obviously lewd remark, but then again, he knew she wasn't like most girls, and the newest proof of it only made him grin even wider, "Where's the diamond?" she demanded.

"Don't you want to search me for it?" he asked intimately.

"No, but I'm sure Bruno at the JCC Police Department would _love_ to strip search you," she said monotonously.

He laughed, "It's the Uniform, I know."

Her expression changed as she started to realize that he wasn't fighting her, "What are you really after?" she asked suspiciously.

"Haven't you figured it out yet?" he asked teasingly. He leaned a little forward and she immediately responded by shifting her weight to exert more pressure, but he still managed to near his face to her face, even if it was only his mask that she saw and she couldn't really feel his breath. She reacted immediately on guard of what he might have planned and his estimation of her grew another notch...she didn't take _anything_ for granted and he liked that about her, too.

She used her magic to press him back again, "You're not going to intimidate me, _X_," she said his name like it was a bad taste in her mouth but he couldn't help grinning at the sound of it on her lips just the same, "You better tell me what you want."

Out of the corner of his eyes he saw that the other Titans were getting free of their bonds and he was running out of 'alone' time with Raven. Not one to think inside the box, X came to a decision rather quickly. Flipping her hold around and slipping around her, he brought an arm around her neck and pulled her back against his front, holding her other hand from doing any damage, "I'm in the mood for a change of scenery," he whispered in her ear.

She shifted her weight and tossed him over her head before attacking him again, "How will bars and stripes suit you?" she asked sarcastically.

He dodged her blow by blow while he pretended to think about it, "Ah, no…" he answered, flipping back away from her, "I was thinking of something else." He slipped under her guard and managed to knock her feet out from under her, only she grabbed the front of his uniform and brought him down with her, "How about you?" he asked, looking down at her.

Raven was obviously disbelieving that she was having this kind of conversation with a villain while she was fighting with him, but to her credit, she didn't lose a beat. "Yeah, sure," she said, testing her position for a brief moment before shifting him off her and rolling them so that she was bracing him against the blacktop of the roof and holding him down, "how about Venice?" she asked, leaning so close to him her hair touched his mask.

X shifted enough to knock her knees out from under her so that she fell right on top of him, "My lady's wish is my command," he told hersolicitously, and before her look of surprise could form into any sort of action on her part, he took hold of her waist with one hand and shifted her enough so he could get to his belt with the other, "Hold on," he pressed the button and before she could do much but start to speak her words of power, they'd already teleported away from the rooftop they had started out on and were in a similar position on another rooftop some distance away.

_xxxxxxxx_

**A/N:** Part 2 is going to be posted right after this one...but don't expect too much more.

**Special A/N:** Responses to _Epiphanies_ are going up right along with this on my '**_emsscraps_**' journal which you can find here: http / emsscraps . livejournal . com / (remember to take out the spaces and on that main page, just look for the journal titled "Review Responses for Epiphanies".


	2. Spark

_**EDIT: Go here: emsscraps . livejournal . com / 5107 . html (without spaces, of course) for 'outtakes' from this story... **_

Burn  
_**by Em**_

_**II: Spark  
**_"_What a lovely way to burn..."  
__- _Fever, Peggy Lee

He used the surprise of the sudden teleport to roll them a couple of times until they ended up with him on top again, "No offense," he drawled, legs holding her in place and hands braced at her sides, "But I'd like to be on top for awhile."

She used her legs and hands and in one strong push, managed to push him off her until she could roll by herself away from him and onto a crouch, facing him and ready to attack again. "I'll be sure that gets put on your prison profile," she growled.

X brushed imaginary dirt off his suit and stood gracefully, unhurriedly, "Aren't you going to go running back to your friends?" he asked, making a show of looking around, "You're an awful long way from home."

Raven shook her head as she measured the scenario, "I know where they'll be…" she answered, "I think I rather make sure you don't get away."

Raven attacked and X deflected, satisfied to be on the defensive for now, "So much of your attention focused on little 'ole me?" he asked in a false accent as he blocked a kick, then a punch and turned out of the way of a roundhouse kick, "If I'm not careful," he took the hand she had started to punch him with and used her own momentum to turn her as if he were executing a dance move instead of a fight defense, "it might just go to my head."

Raven released herself from his hold and stood still for a moment, trying to decide what his game was, "If that's all it takes I'll compliment you until your head explodes…" she feinted right and actually struck out with her legs, catching him along the ribs, "save us the trouble of having to put you in jail."

The suit's armor took most of the sting out of her blow, but he couldn't help grinning at the strength in her, "Oh, you sweet talker you." he said sweetly, "How does Bird Boy resist your charms?"

Raven was starting to actually enjoy the challenge he presented, he could tell, especially when she offered him a smirk along with her right hook, "What kind of girl do you think I am?" she jumped out of the way of his retaliatory blow and managed to slip her arms under his and lift them above his head from behind, holding him steady for a moment, "I don't go throwing my charms around on just anyone."

X chuckled and turned in a wide circle, making her lose her balance due to the height difference, "Oh, I _am_ flattered now," but he was pleased to see she didn't let him go so he could turn her hold around on her and brought her against him so that her hands were pressed against her back and he was using them to hold her flush against him, a good three inches off the ground. He pushed her against the wall roughly, but let go of her arms. The pain would be less now, he knew, and it would still keep her from using her arms for magic at the same time. And just to make doubly sure, he used his pressed into her, using his body weight to pin her arms between her back and the wall. The fact that it got him close enough to feel her chest heave from her breathing was only a secondary bonus. When he kicked her legs apart and put his own leg between them to keep her off balance, her eyes widened and he caught the first whiff of panic in her expression, but it didn't last long. He leaned his head close to her neck, "And although flattery will get you _everywhere_ with me," he purred in her ear, "it _won't_ get me in jail."

Rather quickly, however, Raven got over the surprise and she offered him a dangerous smirk, "Why didn't you say you were into the touchy feely stuff?" she asked, just before he felt the rise of her power come over his skin like a cool breeze, even through the suit, "It could be arranged…" And before he could think what she was intending to do, he watched her eyes glow white with power and before he could get away, he was pulled away from her by a shadow claw that was not only very solid, but strong as hell itself as it held him aloft, a few inches from her. He made a mental note that she didn't always need her hands to use her power. 'Oh well,' he thought, 'Live and learn.'

She approached him slowly, still grinning that dangerous grin and X couldn't help but grin in return. He knew she wasn't going to get him to the cops...even if she intended to, he wouldn't go, it was that simple.

"You cheated," he pointed out.

"All's fair in love and war," she answered, "And as fun as our skirmish has been," she continued, reaching into the hidden compartment of his suit and bringing out the jeweled necklace. "I think I'll take this now."

"How'd you know where it was?" he asked, not hiding the surprise in his voice.

"When you pressed against me...I sensed them," she answered.

He sighed, over dramatically, "Well, isn't that just like a woman?" He moved around a little, testing her restraint, "You offer her great sex and all they care about are the jewels."

Raven's eyebrow raised, "If that's your idea of sex, great or otherwise, you've had the wrong kind of teacher."

X grinned and even though the mask hid it, he knew she could tell, "Oh, that wasn't the sex," he said, laughing, "That was just the foreplay." He met her eyes and knew he could feel that too, "I _am_ glad to see I didn't underestimate you," he told her seriously.

Raven appeared momentarily surprised, "Now _I'm_ flattered."

"And how far will flattery get me with _you_?" he asked brazenly, considering he was still being held up by Raven's soul self.

Raven started to approach him, but was stopped by the stomping of feet on the roof.

"Oh well," X said as she started to turn, "Another time, perhaps?"

"RAVEN!" Robin exclaimed, running up to them, quickly followed by the rest of the team.

Raven glanced back at the team and X took the opportunity to reach his transporter, saluting her cockily as he disappeared even through her hold.

"DAMN!" Raven cursed, glaring at Robin, "I had him!"

Robin didn't look convinced, "So we saw," he said under his breath,then, "Report."

Raven handed him the jeweled necklace, "At least I managed to get this," was all she said.

Cyborg shook his head, "Why'd he bring you here?" he asked, looking around.

Raven looked around her for the first time and quickly recognized where they were. They were on the roof of Vinnie's...the famous Italian restaurant in the fashionable part of the bay known as "Most Romantic Italian Restaurant" for three years running. As it dawned on her, she shook her head and smiled a little. Cyborg, Beast Boy, Starfire and Robin all looked at her strangely. In reply, Raven shrugged. "He said he wanted a change of scenery..." at their continued looks of confusion, she continued, "I suggested Venice." When they obviously didn't get it, she pointed to the mural of Venice's Grand Canal in the cul de sac and at the one gondola floating on the bay for the restaurant below them. "Venice," she explained, the almost smile still on her lips.

Robin stalked up to her and frowned, "You think that's funny?" he demanded, "He could've killed you."

Raven was not intimidated, but crossed her arms calmly, "He's not a killer," she said calmly, "just..." she thought of the way he acted and couldn't help but continue smiling, "...unscrupulous." She looked down at herself for a moment, seemingly checking herself for bruises, "Actually, I think I gave him more bruises than he gave me."

"I'll believe that," Cyborg agreed, grinning, but the grin fell off his face as Robin glared at him for interrupting or agreeing with her...either way, he stepped back deciding to stay out of this one.

Turning back to her, Robin centered all of his attention on her, "The teleporter was only calibrated to transport ONE person, Raven," he said very slowly, as if she were an idiot.

Raven suddenly realizing, blinked, "Oh." But she couldn't get herself to feel any more than that. It was pointless to worry about something that could have happened, but didn't.

Robin, clearly frustrated by her lack of response, shook his head and started to walk away, "Let's go."

Hesitatingly, Cyborg spoke up, "Yo, now that we're here…" Robin turned to glare at him and the look was murder, but Cyborg was nothing if not brave when it come to certain things, and so he pressed on, "how about we get some pasta to go?"

"Boo-yah!" Beast Boy agreed, jumping in the air.

Robin, still obviously annoyed, ignored Beast Boy's shout of joy, "We're going home."

Raven smiled at Cyborg as if Robin hadn't spoken, "Actually, that sounds like a good idea…" she stepped up to Cyborg and put a hand on his shoulder, "the Cannelloni smell is driving me crazy," she admitted.

Cyborg's jaw dropped momentarily surprised at Raven's offer of information and support, but he recovered quickly (he was used to seeing a bit of a different side to her than the others were, after all) and he grinned and extended his arm to her gentlemanly, "Shall we?"

Raven smiled and laced her arm through his. Clapping, Star giggled and laced her arm through Cyborg's other arm.

"Hey!" Beast Boy exclaimed, "Why does Cyborg get all the chicks on his arm?"

"Because I'm way cooler than you are, of course," Cyborg answered casually, starting to lead them to the door. Raven and Star stopped and looked at each other.

"Shall _we_?" Raven asked Star, who nodded enthusiastically while Cyborg looked from one to the other.

"What?" Cyborg asked.

"We will cut the short!" Star announced enthusiastically.

"She means…" Raven corrected as they started to levitate off the ground, Cyborg between them, "...short cut," she answered as they started to fly toward the edge of the roof.

Cyborg laughed at the sensation of flying, "I can live with that."

"Can we ride the gondola?" Beast Boy asked, running after them. "I've never ridden a gondola!" he told them before turning into a hawk to fly with them.

Before anyone could answer, Raven spoke up, "Sure, why not?"

Star almost dropped Cyborg in her joy and Beast Boy fell out of form in his surprise.

Alone on the roof, Robin seriously thought about going back to the Tower by himself, but just as he was about to, X appeared before him.

Without another thought, Robin ran at him to attack, but X simply disappeared from view, appearing behind him, "Stop with the charging, Boy Blunder, you're not going to catch me," he told him, disappearing and re-appearing when Robin tried to charge at him again.

"What do you want, X?" Robin asked, stopping his charging and thinking of another approach.

"And here I thought you had figured it out..." X announced, looking down at where the rest of the Titans were just starting to approach the restaurant's entrance. "I want Raven, of course," he answered as he looked back at Robin.

"Whatever you're planning to do to her..." Robin started.

X laughed and held out a hand, "Oh, I'm planning on doing plenty _with_ her, kid, but it's nothing as sinister as what you're thinking it is," he admitted. He turned to him and his whole posture was confident and cocky, not dangerous or like he wanted to fight and Robin was taken aback by it. "I've only come to give you fair warning," he said seriously, "She won't need the protection of Robin, the leader of the Teen Titan's from me: I won't hurt her," he said, approaching him, "But if Robin the man wants to fight for the woman he wants," he shrugged, "Well, that's another matter."

Anyone else and Robin would've felt the need to vocalize some form of denial, but he just wasn't sure enough of what he really wanted to say pointless things and he sensed the gravity of X's words, the _reality_ of them and couldn't lie.

Seeing that his meaning had gotten through to the younger man, X started to walk away, "Oh, and by the way," he threw over his shoulder, "The d'Orsay diamond was for Raven," he glanced back at him as he jumped into the air, "make sure she gets it back, will ya?" he asked before his image disappeared.

X hadn't doubted that Robin had feelings for the Dark Witch, but he had been a little surprised that the boy hadn't even attempted to deny it. 'Oh well,' he thought as he practically flew over rooftops toward his home, 'It looks like this is going to be even more interesting than I thought.' He might have been better off by not throwing the gauntlet of challenge down before the notoriously competitive hero, but X always had been the kind of guy who preferred to leap from the frying pan into the fire before he was pushed there.

And anyway; if you were looking to play with fire, it might as well be hot.

_xxxxxxxx_

**A/N:** I started doing this when I requested both Raven/Speedy and Raven/Red-X pairings for **7snogs** community on livejournal but when they told me I could only have one pairing per fandom I decided to stick with Raven/Speedy because it would be easier to do even though I had already done up a lot of this bit. Soooo...I ended up finishing it and splitting it two and posting it. Don't blame me. I know it's a little rough. It's a lot of action based stuff and I think I suck a lot at action writing, so don't blame me. ((points to muse)) Blame Puck...he always says he's a lover not a fighter...maybe if I had a muse that was more of a fighter, I'd do better action scenes...


	3. Fire

**+EDIT+**

So, _**Kerricarri**_ sent me an email calling me on the overall suckiness of the ending as I had originally posted it. She didn't use those words, she was actually much more subtle in her word choice, but I know what it meant...((grin)) And I realized she was right and so I fixed it and rewrote the ending. Not the overall feel of it or the kind of cliffie it leaves off on, but I gave X and Rae a bit more conversation at the end, and I think made the end make a little more sense...I hope, anyway.

So...THANKS, **_Kerricarri_** for the honest criticism and for being so nice about it and super duper UBER thanks to **_GuardianKysra_** who served as my emergency beta when I wasn't sure the rewritten peice was what I wanted it to be.

If you read the first version and care to read this version, I'd appreciate comments on what you think, too, so feel free.

**+End EDIT**+

**A/N:** As promised, I've continued it. Full notes below.  
Not Beta'd.

**Disclaimers:** Same as the previous two sections. I own X even less than I own Robin. Tch. _The little minx..._And I still haven't met the wonderful and generous benefactor/ress who would pay me to write this stuff, so yeah, still not getting paid for it.

_**Burn  
**__**by Em**_

_**III: Fire**_

"_O breathe a word or two of fire!  
__Smile, as if those words should burn me."  
_- John Keats, "Song"

A shadow fell over the pages of her book. She waited and when it didn't move away, she sighed and looked up into the amused face of a handsome man. Her quick perusal registered neat dark hair, slightly tanned skin, nondescript eyes, youth, and height. Before she could give him her signature impatient look, he pulled out the empty seat across from her and gracefully slid into it with all the aplomb of someone who had been asked to take a seat.

Raven's look of bored irritation melted into one of active annoyance. He met her eyes boldly and the general sense of amusement she caught from him was there in the mischievous gleam in eyes. Eyesshe realized were hazel-near gold- and slightly almond shaped. She decided that this wasn't just some star struck fan as she had originally thought.

He started to open his mouth to speak and Raven cut him off, "I don't think so," she said succinctly before turning dismissively back to her book.

"And here I thought you might want to make sure I don't get away again."

It wasn't the sudden sound of his smooth voice or the deep confidence of his timbre that stopped Raven's heart for a split second. Rather, it was the familiarity of his words. She might not have an eidetic memory like Robin did, but she remembered things well enough if they were strange enough to have been interesting.

And her encounter with the notorious Red-X on the roof of that restaurant almost a month prior had been interesting, to say the least.

She was still considering whether his words might've been a coincidence and how to handle the situation, still looking down at the pages of her book even though she obviously wasn't reading, when the man across from her leaned so close she could smell the clean scent of his soap and shaving lotion.

"You're an awful long way from home, Raven."

Slowly, sure now that no one could quite pull off the curious mix of mocking and amusement to his voice the way X could, Raven lifted her head to stare at him again.

She took a moment to take in his appearance more fully, from the expensive looking dark blue dress shirt down to the obviously tailored black slacks and finally back to pointedly memorize the planes of his face.What she had earlier perceivedmerely as 'youth' tookdetailed shape as she guessed his age somewhere in his early 20s."X," she greeted monotonously, "You're either very brave or very stupid."

He leaned back and crossed his arms over his, Raven noticed, broad chest, "Why?" X asked curiously, "I didn't think it was illegal to talk to a pretty girl sitting alone in a café...at least, not last time I checked."

Raven remained as unemotional as ever, even though her mind was working through a dozen different possible scenarios, everything from possible reasons why he had approached her to how a fight would have to go down between them to prevent the least amount of damage. "So I'm to believe you were just out for a cup of coffee and thought you'd sit down and have a chat?"

He shrugged and it possessed all the unconcerned grace his Red-X persona was famous for displaying evenduring his heists. "Why not?"

"Because you're still a wanted man," she said evenly, completely aware she didn't have to explain it to him, "And if you think I won't take you in just because you're not wearing the suit, you're intellect leaves much to be desired."

X chuckled, "If you're planning on fighting me right here, you might want to be wary of your chai tea, it looks like its still hot."

Raven tried to be subtle in the way she tensed for battle, but he must have caught it because he raised his hands between them in the universal 'peace' gesture.

"Relax, Raven," he said calmly, "I am perfectly aware that you _could_ take me in without the suit," he raised his eyebrow challengingly, "if you could subdue me of course," he added, but continued before she could respond to the challenge, "but I am also perfectly aware that _if_ you did, all I'd have to do is deny any knowledge of who you think I am." He looked at her and the cunning was there, the intelligence she had always suspected must be behind his mask. "There's nothing whatsoever to tie me to Red-X, is there?"

Raven knew he was right with a sickening sinking in her stomach. She forced herself to relax the tension she had coiled like a spring and sat back in her chair, closing the book before her with an audible snap. "So, what _do_ you want?"

He laughed, "Why is it so hard to believe I really did sit down to have a nice chat with one of the more interesting females of my acquaintance?"

"You haven't bought a drink," Raven announced flatly. "Or anything else for that matter," she pointed out. When he raised a well groomed eyebrow, she continued, annoyance at having to explain herself just under the surface of her monotonous tone, "If you'd come to have a cup of coffee and just happened to find me here and thought you'd sit and chat, you'd have bought something before now, as you haven't bought anything at all, it leads me to believe you have an ulterior motive for your presence here."

He looked relatively surprised, "Well, that's some nice detective work," he praised, "Bird Brain's been tutoring you, has he?"

"What Robin has or has not been teaching me is not the subject of this conversation," she insisted. "And I grow weary of it as it is," she said taking a sip of her tea, "So either tell me what you want, or I think I'll go find a place where I can be alone."

"There's only one thing wrong with all those conclusions," he said amusedly. She raised her eyebrow which he interpreted to mean for him to continue, "I never said I came to get a cup of coffee and just happened to see you here."

"Does it matter?" she countered.

"Only because you wasted all that wonderful analysis on something that should have been obvious from my own statement," he pointed out. "I admitted I didn't come here for a cup of coffee outright."

Raven looked as if she were trying very hard not to sigh in frustration,"So what _did_ you come here for?"

He smiled at her, "You."

Unperturbed, she resisted rolling her eyes and re-opened her book, lowering her eyes to its pages. "I hate to disappoint you, but I don't play these kinds of games."

His laughter once again tempted her gaze to him, but she held back, stubbornly focusing on the words in front of her. "Funny, I could've sworn you'd enjoy a good bout of verbal jousting as much as you enjoyed trying to get me into your arms."

At his obvious mis-interpretation of the purpose for the fight the last time they met, she did look up at him, but stopped herself before she could let her temper run away with her mouth. It was obvious he was trying to goad her, so instead of anger or offense as he might have hoped, she offered him an expression of calm _almost _amusement,"You must be awfully bored if all you can think of to entertain yourself is to try to get a rise out of me."

He leaned close to her and just like that, the humor was gone from his expression leaving behind only a look of intense interest, "Trust me, if I decide to try to get anything out of you, it'd be less like a rise and more like..." he trailed off and let his eyes caress the features of her face, "...something else entirely."

Raven met his eyes squarely and there was just the slightest shift of the pressures of her lips that insinuated the possibility of a grin, "You could certainly try."

He smiled wickedly, "I'll take _that_ as an invitation."

And just like that, Raven had the distinct impression she might just have bitten off more than she might be able to chew. Deciding to cut her losses, Raven picked up her book and stood. Thankfully, managing to make the action as smooth and graceful despite not feeling very much like either. "Only if you can," she said by way of a parting shot and turned to walk away.

"And _that_ as a challenge," he said, laughter in his voice. She didn't stop and had taken all of three steps away from the table when his voice came again, "By the way," he said, his nonchalance giving her pause. "I heard the d'Orsay Diamond is back in the museum?"

Raven turned to glance at him over her shoulder only to find him sitting at the table but glancing out the window. "Where it belongs," she confirmed.

"Too bad," he said on a sigh, "It would've gone great with your eyes." At her silence, he turned to look at her and rose both brows at her obvious confusion. "Don't tell me Bird Boy didn't give you my message?"

"What message?" she asked instead.

"I told him the diamond was for you," he said, clucking his tongue in mock disappointment, "Should've guessed he'd keep _that_ to himself." And before Raven could even think of something to say, he turned back to staring out the window, "How do you feel about sapphires?" he asked casually.

Raven narrowed her eyes at him, "What's your game, X?" she asked suddenly, bluntly. He met her eyes and raised a brow so she continued, "You come here, maskless, knowing that I can identify you later and you don't seem to care."

He glanced at her, a patient smile on his well formed lips, "And what assumptions can you draw from that, Raven?" he asked turning back to the window without waiting for her reply.

"That you're either stupid..."

His chuckle gave her enough pause for him to speak, "Which you _know_ isn't true..." he told her in a perfectly logical voice.

"...or..." Raven thought for a moment, "...that you are cocky enough to _think_ that even knowing what you look like we wouldn't be able to catch you."

He glanced at her and his expression didn't change, "I hate to disillusion you as far as my character flaws are concerned, but actually, it's neither." It was Raven's turn to raise a brow in silent question, "I just don't believe you'll tell any of your friends what I look like at all."

Raven just barely resisted scoffing, "And why wouldn't I?"

X shrugged that gallic shrug of his, "Because then the game wouldn't be any fun, would it?"

Raven's eyes narrowed, "I don't play games."

Raven hadn't noticed how she had walked back toward the table until he stood and he was suddenly looking down at her from very close, "Oh, but this game promises to be _so_ much fun..." he said, his voice a low, intimate roll of sound, more promise than simple statement.

It wasn't theundercurrent of danger in his nearness that sent the thrill of fear through her. It was the overwhelming wave of anger that she just barely managed to restrain. She wanted to punch his smug face in. She wished he'd do something illegal which gave her a right to, as Cyborg would say, 'lay the smack down on his ass'. But other than his words, he had behaved the perfect gentleman.So, afraid of what would happenifshe stayed, she cut her losses andgave in. Even though several voices in her head were crying out for her to continue to fight, she stepped back. First one step, then another, until there was a good amount of breathing space between them. He was looking at her with those amused eyes again, the way people look at pets when they've done something cute, and it made Raven angry.

So angry, in fact, that she felt the tight tether of her emotions pull taught for a frightening second and without further comment, she turned on her heel and walked right out of the coffee shop without so much as a backward glance.

The door clanged on her way out and she just barely restrained herself from slamming it. It was taking all of her control to not lash out at the nearest object. She wasgripping the binding of her book so tightly her knuckles were turning white and if she would have had Star's strength, she was sure the book would've been ashes. She was angry at him for being such a conceited prig, but she was angry at herself too, for letting him get to her. She should've walked away as soon as she knew she couldn't take him into custody. She would've avoided herself a whole lot of frustration that way.

She realized suddenly that she was still standing on the sidewalk, right outside the window alongside which they had been sitting and behind which X was still sitting and still presumably staring. Before she could help it, she turned and caught sight of him behind the glass staring straight across the street as if she weren't glaring daggers in his direction. So deep in thought did he look, that curiosity finally overcame Raven's anger and she turned to search for what he was staring at.

And that was about the time she saw it.

Across the street, a brick building loomed. The writing on the fancy looking sign above the door: _Mogok International Fine Gem Exchange_.

"_How do you feel about sapphires?"_

As soon as the implication hit her, Raven turned back to the window, only to find X was gone.

_'This,_' Raven decided, _'can't bode well.'_

_xxxxxxxxx_

**A/N:** Puck was bugging me to continue it for awhile, but I just didn't really sit down to do it. At one point, a few months ago, I got the idea of what I wanted the scene to be about, but the voices weren't clear in my head, the conversation wasn't flowing. All I got was a mental picture of Raven sitting at the shop and X approaching her. I didn't know what was said between them, though, so I was stuck. Then, at another point, I got the possibility that I kind of leave off with at the end here and I thought I'd make the next part start with that, but I didn't really like that too much so I wasn't inspired to write that either. Then, this afternoon, I was actually doing something else, and I just opened up Burn parts I and II and suddenly, I knew how the conversation was going to go! (I love it when that happens!)


	4. Inflame

**A/N:** Not Beta'd. (And what's more: written while tired and maybe a little sleepy. Whether that's a good thing because it dropped my natural resistance or whether it's bad because this came out loopy and the rest of you will read this and wonder, "What the ((bleep)) was she on, eh?" is up to your interpretation.) All of you could serve as betas for me if you'd like to leave a comment if you find something wrong. Full notes below.

**Disclaimers:** Nothing's changed...move along...

_**Burn  
**__**by Em**_

_**IV: Inflame  
**_"_Love is a fire. But whether it is going to warm your hearth or burn down your house, you can never tell."  
_- Joan Crawford

"MAN!" Beast Boy exclaimed, dropping into a chair as if all the bones and muscles in his body gave out at the same time, "Seven different jewelry places in five days?" he moaned, "That just ain't right..."

"And one..." Starfire added, trailing into the room without her usual exuberance, "...twice."

"Yeah!" Beast Boy agreed, curling up on his side on the couch, "What the hell is up with that?" he wondered on a half yawn.

"It doesn't make sense," Cyborg agreed, entering the living room while he fiddled with the controls on his arm, "It's nothing like his usual M.O."

Beast Boy sat up and looked at Cyborg in confusion, "Dude," he said, "X is a thief...that means he steals...that's his M.O."

Cyborg shook his head, barely registering Robin walking to the computer and Raven walking into the kitchen, "He's always been way more of an industrial espionage kind of thief rather than a commercial thief," he insisted.

"Industrial what-a-nauge?" Beast Boy asked, yawning again.

"Espionage," Cyborg answered, rolling his eye. "It means his main targets are always secrets; of big companies, of rich people..." he trailed off, "Basically, information." He shook his head, "He's never gone after money or gold or jewelry, he's not your typical bank thief, you know?" he shook his head again, walking to Robin and the computer and beaming the footage of the latest fight into the computer's mainframe automatically, "And here he goes, hitting seven--"

"And one twice," Star reminded them bleakly.

"--and one twice," Cyborg amended, continuing his rant as if Star hadn't interrupted, "jewelry stores and exchanges like it's going outta style, it stinks like last week's tofu!"

"Hey!" Beast Boy defended weakly.

"Sorry," Cyborg said off-handedly, "You know what I mean."

Beast Boy, who fell asleep mid nod, made no further protest.

Cyborg sighed and looked from Robin to Raven but he was only further confused when he realized that from the moment they had foiled yet another of Red-X's jewelery heist attempts, neither of them had spoken a word. Usually, they were the ones who would be making all these connections, asking all the right questions and all over offering up answers. He often came up with the same questions they did, but usually by the time _he_ did, they'd already thought up a few possible answers. And here they were: quiet as mice.

Cyborg figured that if they wouldn't offer the information, he would prod them for it and asked, "What do you think, Rob?"

Robin who had been staring at the screen as if his life depended on it, looked up at the sound of his name. "What?" he asked.

Cyborg rolled his eye, "What do you think X is up to?" He widened his eye, "Don't tell me you find nothing fishy about his chosen sets of recent targets?" Robin looked away from the screen, seemingly off into the distance. Cyborg followed the line of his gaze but there was nothing in the kitchen except a tinkering Raven making tea. "Maybe someone's hired him to steal some jewels or something?" Cyborg pondered. "Maybe he needs some quick cash?" he thought out. When the younger detective made no sign of having heard him, Cyborg sighed. He didn't know what was wrong with the Boy Wonder, but he was getting mighty tired of the silent act. "Robin?" Robin looked at him, "You don't think he's suddenly up and decided to turn into a jewel thief, do you?"

Robin shook his head, "No," he answered. "Jewel thievery is much too _common_ for X's standards...too cut and dry."

"So?" Cyborg asked, glad that Robin was finally offering up some insight. "What do you think he's up to?"

Robin scoffed, "I don't think," he said, somewhat under his breath, "I know."

Cyborg raised his eyebrow, "Oh? Care to share with the class?"

Robin met his eyes, "He's courting."

It took a few seconds for the words to process through Cyborg's brain but when it did, his response was an instantaneous and very vocal, "WHAT?" His outburst must have been louder than he thought because in the kitchen, the sound of a sugar bowl tipping onto the counter could be heard. "Sorry, Rae," he said to her, "But what do you mean, courting?" he asked Robin, "As in, a girl?"

Robin nodded.

"No way," Cyborg shook his head emphatically. "Why would he go through so much trouble, knowing we'd be stopping him, just to get some pretty baubles for some skirt? Especially when he's gotta _know_ chances are, we're not gonna let him just walk away with the goods?"

"It's not about actually giving her the jewelry," Robin answered. "It's about getting her attention..." he trailed off, staring back in the direction of the kitchen, "...showing off..." he said, his voice hard. Cyborg failed to notice the way, in the kitchen, Raven went completely still, "...taunting and teasing her..." Robin sat back and met Cyborg's surprised expression with a cool facade, "...it's foreplay."

Cyborg blinked, "Okay..." he considered it and found that it made sense in a warped-thief-bad-guy kind of way. "So, saying he is courting someone, it's gotta be someone who is seeing these things, right? Otherwise, it'd be pointless...and since the media hasn't really picked up most of these attempts, then it's gotta be someone who's close enough to each of these robberies..." Cyborg clapped his hands, "Okay!" he said, pleased, "Now we're getting somewhere! All we have to do is cross-reference the locations of each of the robberies, and who was present for each one and..."

"That won't be necessary."

Robin's hushed tone stilled him before he could move one foot toward the other computer. "Huh?" Cyborg asked, then his eye widened, "Oh, hell no, you do not already know who it is, don't you?" he asked, peeved to realize that the only reason Robin hadn't been participating in his musings was that he already knew the answer even before Cyborg knew the question...again.

"I do," Robin answered, looking back off into the distance.

"Alright," Cyborg asked, shoulders slumped in defeat, "So out with it: who's the lucky lady?"

Robin was stopped from answering by the appearance of Raven at Cyborg's elbow, tea-kettle in hand.

Both Robin and Cyborg turned to look at her and with calm aplomb Raven pulled the top off the kettle and tipped it so that they could see inside. Something inside rang dully when it struck the metal and echoed inside the empty kettle. Raven moved the kettle so that it was squarely before Cyborg and waited. Cyborg looked at her, and even though her face was expressionless, he knew she meant for him to reach inside and remove the object that had been placed there.

Sighing, he reached a hand into the kettle and pulled out a heavy, thick bracelet. The setting was some kind of silver, platinum or white gold, and it was covered in tiny cut diamonds interspersed by beautiful round cut sapphires.

"Ooh!" Starfire spoke reverently from the couch area.

"Damn!" Robin cursed under his breath, turning back to the computer and inputing some information in rapid fire typing.

Cyborg held it between thumb and forefinger and let it dangle in front of his face. It glinted in the overhead lights for a moment and blinked dumbly at it before he thought to raise his eyes and look at Raven.

"I am," Raven answered into the shocked silence.

"What?" Cyborg asked, thinking. "You're...?" his brain tried very hard to catch up with the fact that he had a heavy thirty-thousand dollar, stolen bracelet in his hands and that Raven was apparently answering his question to Robin before he found the bracelet. But, Cyborg's mind argued, Raven couldn't be answering his question to Robin because if she were, then that would mean that Red-X, notorious thief, is trying to court her. Not only that, his brain reasoned, but if she was answering his question to Robin it would also imply that she was aware that Red-X was trying to...

"Red-X is courting Raven," Robin explained monotonously.

"Dude!" Cyborg exclaimed, rounding on Robin, the bracelet flying and nearly smacking Raven in the forehead. By the sofa, Starfire flew up and grabbed it before it could be damaged, her eyes glittering at the jewelry in her hands. "YOU KNEW THIS ALL ALONG?"

"That is almost...sweet?" Star spoke, almost on a question. Robin and Cyborg looked at her and she blushed, "That he is in love is a sweet thing, even if he is not going about it the right way, is it not?"

Cyborg rounded on Starfire and she eeped and hid behind the couch, "That criminal is NOT going to lay one criminal..._ly_ hand on our little Raven!"

Raven's eyebrows rose but she did not otherwise comment. Robin opened his eyes wide and opened his mouth, but he didn't exactly know what to say to that either.

Cyborg rounded on him and poked at his chest, "And you!" he demanded, "If you've known, why haven't you done something?" Cyborg asked indignantly. "Wait..." he paused, "HOW did you know?"

Raven finally looked at Robin and Robin finally looked right at Raven. "He told me."

"You?" Cyborg asked, before Raven could. "Why would he tell you?"

Robin turned to Cyborg, "He's just trying to steal something else..." he answered wearily. "Something beyond any jewel, more important than any secret..." he turned back to Raven.

"He's trying to steal himself a girlfriend?" Cyborg asked sarcastically. "Well, he doesn't know much about girls if he thinks he can get a girl with just some..." Cyborg stopped and thinking better of the sentence he had been about to utter, shook his head, "Okay, so maybe he knows something about girls in general, but he doesn't know much about Raven if he thinks he can get to Raven with some botched up attempts..." Cyborg turned to Raven and noted the look on her face, "Right, Raven?" he asked.

"He already has," Robin pointed out and no one, except maybe Raven, could ever decipher the emotion in his voice.

"Raven?" Cyborg asked.

Carefully, as if unsure if she should, Starfire approached, holding the jewelry in front of Raven. "What will you do?" she whispered.

Raven took hold of it carefully, twirling it a little in the light. "Tonight, I am going to sleep," Raven answered, looking at each of them in turn (except for Beast Boy who was snoring on the couch). She flicked her wrist and the bracelet disappeared inside her small, pale fist. "And tomorrow, I will return the bracelet to the proper authorities," she said and without another word, walked out of the room and to her bedroom.

Cyborg watched her go and then turned back to Robin, "She didn't answer my question," he told him. "Why didn't she answer my question?"

"Perhaps she also feels for the Red-X?" Starfire asked.

Cyborg opened his mouth to argue, but suddenly found he couldn't. "I'll go lock her in her room," he started to follow her, but stopped when a green gloved hand pushed against his chest. He turned as Robin stood up. "You going to lock her in her room?" he asked.

Robin didn't answer, but walked with a determination they knew meant business toward Raven's room.

"Cyborg?" Starfire asked as they watched Robin go.

"Hm?" Cyborg asked, concerned with too many questions no one seemed willing to answer.

"I am assuming the Red-X put the bracelet in the tea maker for Raven, yes?" she asked.

Cyborg nodded. "Yeah, gotta be."

"Well..."

Starfire paused long enough that Cyborg turned to her. "What?"

"How did he get it _inside_ the maker while the maker was _inside_ the Tower?"

For a second, Cyborg stared. "Why that _little..._!" Cyborg's face flushed with anger and indignation. "He _hacked_ my security..."

"Again," Starfire pointed out.

"AGAIN!" Cyborg agreed, infuriated. "I'll...I'll..." he trailed off and the anger and offense melted out of his expression. "...oh, forget it..." he said. He reached up and stretched his massive shoulders, "Night, Star..." he said starting to walk away, "I need to charge up."

"Wonderful dreams, friend," Starfire wished as he disappeared around the corner. She looked at Beast Boy and sighed, "I believe things are going to, as you might say Friend Beast Boy, _hit the fan_."

Beast Boy's only response, of course, was a mix between snort and snore.

_xxxxxxxxxx_

**A/N:** We didn't see the other Titans in the last chapter, and so here we've got them. And we've got a bit of the way the Boy Wonder is dealing with it...also a bit of the way Raven is dealing with it. And a whole lotta Cyborg. I think this is leftover Cyborg-ness from "Cy's Say" (**_Moment_**-verse, in case you don't follow that one of my stories...)

I don't hate Beast Boy...I _really_ don't. I don't know why I can't make him come up more in my stories...

This is worrying me greatly.


	5. Simmer

**A/N:** I like the _idea_ of this one, but I'm not sure my execution of it was the best. And just to show you what a nice person I am (because I honestly didn't realize the last chapter could be seen as a kind of cliffhanger and that hadn't been my intention at all...) my original plan was to end it after page 4 or so. (You'll know what I mean when you see it.) I was going to leave after page 4 for a separate chapter. I didn't though. I give it all to you together so you won't accuse me of leaving you guys off on cliffies...

Not beta'd.

**Thanks:** On emsscraps.

**Disclaimer:** _Tch._ As if. I think it's safer to say that X and Raven and Robin own _me_.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_**Burn  
**__**by Em**_

_**V: Simmer  
**_"_...to be loved is to burn. And to burn is to exist. Off and on."  
_- Robert Fulghum

"I thought you said you were going to sleep?"

"How do you intend for me to sleep with you hovering outside my door?" she asked unemotionally.

"I wanted to speak to you."

Her expression did not change, neither did she move or motion for him to enter her room. "Speak."

He knew she was purposefully being difficult and he was not only angry at her for it, he clutched that anger to him. It was easier to be angry at her than to feel...what? Well...whatever it was he was feeling.

"It doesn't have to be in your room, Raven, but it won't be in the hall," he stated bluntly.

He watched as she considered her options and knew it the split second before she stepped aside that she had decided that she could not get out of letting him speak his peace and that she preferred to deal with him in a place of her choosing rather than his.

"What do you want, Robin?" she asked after he had entered her room and the door had closed silently behind him.

"Are you going to pretend we don't need to speak about this whole X business?" he asked.

"There is nothing I need to say on the matter, but if there is something you feel the need to express, then I am not stopping you."

He practically growled in frustration. He knew, of course, that she only turned to wordy and verbose speech when she was trying to separate herself from matters.

"Cyborg wants to lock you in your room," he spat out thoughtlessly. As soon as it was out of his mouth, he cursed himself for having said it. It was a stupid and petty and pointless thing to say. He knew that, but now it couldn't be unsaid.

She scoffed, but silently, the way she always did. "Which would serve absolutely no purpose," she offered, then turned from her methodical cleansing of her hair brush to stare right at him, "But Cyborg's protectiveness where I'm concerned is something he and I must speak of, and certainly not a matter for you to bring to my door."

"True," he admitted, much to her surprise.

"Then..." she waited until he looked up to meet her eyes, "What do you want?"

He sighed. "You knew X was going to strike almost all of the places he struck." It wasn't a question, he wasn't asking for confirmation, he was only letting her know that he had already figured it out.

"Yes." She didn't flinch or even look surprised that he had figured it out. He had expected some emotion on her face when he confronted her with his deduction. "Is that all?" she pressed.

She looked almost bored.

He shook his head, "Why didn't you tell me?" he asked, starting to feel anger. "You realize if we'd known where he was going to strike we might have been able to set a trap for him."

"He's playing some sort of game, Robin," she explained, "And he probably expected me to tell you...if I had told you and you tried to set up a trap, that would've been walking right into his."

He didn't believe her. He didn't know why, her reasons made perfect sense. But in the same way he always knew when she was telling the truth or keeping something from him, he knew that she wasn't telling the truth then.

And the thing was, she knew he realized her lie. She knew and still she stared right at him, waiting for him to either accept her word or call her on it.

"Is that all?" she prodded.

"No," he said, unsure of what else he might say.

"What did he tell you?" Raven asked into the silence. "You made no mention that he had spoken to you either."

"He told me he wanted you," Robin answered bluntly.

Raven started in shock at his bluntness. "What game is he playing?" she wondered.

"It's no game, Raven," Robin said, taking a step toward her, "He wants you and men like that aren't used to not getting what they want." He shook his head, "You're not safe."

"I can take care of myself," she retorted.

"I don't doubt it," he confirmed, and if there was an edge of something other than confidence in her abilities as a heroine, it was too minor for her to call him on it. "But I wouldn't put anything passed him, Raven," he insisted. "He doesn't play fair."

Raven scoffed, "He can't very well steal me away, Robin," she said derisively. "I'm not as easy to take as those pretty baubles he's been going after."

"What does he have to do to take you?" Robin asked and Raven's gaze turned sharply to him in surprise. Robin took another step toward her, "Is there something he can do to seduce you?" he asked. "Because he'll do his homework and figure it out if there is," he pressed, taking another step.

Raven refused to budge or give an inch. This was _her_ room. Her sanctuary and _her_ playing field. Robin would not intimidate her here. "_If_ there is and _if_ he finds it, do you really think I'll respond to like Pavlov's dog to his bell?"

Her tone was cold and should have warned him, but he was beyond warning. All he could think about was that she didn't say that he couldn't seduce her. She didn't tell him it would be a cold day in Hell before she'd consider Red-X as anything other than a thief and villain to be taken down and taken in.

Raven must have seen the look of resolve harden on his features because she gave just the barest hint of an instinct to retreat, her weight shifting onto her back leg as if in preparation for a fight or to flee.

He used it to his advantage and pressed far beyond her personal boundaries, bringing his face mere inches away from her face. "Has he already seduced you, Raven?"

At his suggestion, the minimal shock and surprise melted into anger. Anger she understood. Anger she could deal with, smother and control ruthlessly if need be, but she recognized anger and she didn't have to waste precious time wondering what emotions she was facing down.

Anger also allowed her to shut off all expression to her face completely, so that one moment he could see the fury in her expression and the next her eyes were like chipped blocks of purple ice.

"If that's all," she motioned dismissively with her hand and behind him, the door to her room opened.

He didn't move. "You haven't answered my question."

"Which one?" she asked, "The one that merely insinuates the insult or the one that says it outright?" When he didn't answer, too shocked by the venom in her voice, she walked towards him, until he had to step back or risk coming into contact with her. "Now you better leave before you say something we won't be able to pretend wasn't said."

Robin lowered his head and exhaled softly. He knew he had crossed the line but Starfire's question still haunted his mind, "I need to know whether or not--"

"Don't finish that," Raven interrupted him, her tone cold as the heart of winter. "Think about it first Robin," she warned. "because the moment you ask me whether or not you could trust me and my judgment, you won't be able to take it back."

They stared at each other for what might have been aeons, but was actually no more than mere moments, minutes perhaps. She couldn't see his eyes beyond the mask, but she could read the lines of his face as easily as she would read the lines of a palm. And just like the lines of a palm, his face suggested _everything_ he was feeling and confirmed absolutely nothing.

For a moment, she was confused, trapped between anger at what he had insinuated and the sense that there was something he was trying very hard to tell her and just didn't know how. She didn't know which emotion to pay heed to, and before she could come to any sort of conclusion, he turned on his heel and stepped across her threshold, not another word spoken between them.

With an annoyed sort of hiss, the door slammed home, locking automatically. Robin exhaled sharply and walked down the hall wondering why someone who normally understood him on such an instinctual level could fail to understand him when it really counted.

Inside the room, Raven stared at the closed door with all the ire she refused to allow Robin to see.

_'How dare he!'_ she fumed. How dare he insinuate that she would pose any sort of threat to this team? To her family? He practically called her a whore, willing to sell herself for pretty gems and a little attention!

She took several deep breaths to control her anger, knowing that even after the defeat of her father, she couldn't risk letting loose all her emotion (not if she wanted to keep her room in order) and once her eyes no longer burned with her fury, she turned around to look right at the silhouette framed in her floor to ceiling windows.

For a moment, she blinked at it stupidly, certain it must be a trick of the light or her sight playing with the shadows. Even when it moved, she thought it could very easily have been the curtains moving and not really a cape or a cloud against the moon shifting the shadows in her room.

But when the candle flicked on to her silent command and she saw the light flash across the bone white of his mask, getting ever closer she reacted for the first time in a long time, impulsively...

She screamed bloody murder.

Before the scream had a chance to escape her lips, however, a black gloved hand was pressed tightly against her mouth, pushing her bodily into the door at her back with the force of the hold.

"I like your sharp tongue too much to gag you, gorgeous, but if you insist on screaming, I might just have to."

The instinct to scream died, consumed by the suddenly flaring fire of her fury as she stared into the empty sockets of the skull mask. With one thought, her power had raised like a storm about her and flung her assailant halfway across the room. "Don't you _ever_ touch me again," she hissed, her eyes flashing white.

X stood up, a bit tenderly, and shook his head, "Okay," he conceded, "We really must work on your nearness issues."

She raised a hand, dark with power, and glared at him, "You have two seconds to explain why you're here."

"Well, you couldn't expect me to come all the way to the Tower and not wait to see you, could you?" he shrugged nonchalantly, "I would've made my presence known earlier," at her raised eyebrow that clearly meant to show her doubt at his statement, he shrugged, "Hey, I may be a thief but I'm no eavesdropper," he defended. When her skepticism did not abate, he exhaled but continued in surrender, "How could I be expected to break apart that _tender_ scene between you and bird brain?"

He reached out absently to lay a hand on one the Noh masks decorating a corner of her book case and before he could, her power lashed out around him, cupping him up in a strong grasp and opening her windows with one graceful swoop. Red-X was hanging ten floors above the craggly bottom of Titan Island before he could even register he had moved.

"Don't touch me," she said, walking toward the window, her power or anger never faltering, "Don't touch my belongings," she told him. "I am no one's plaything and I am not some witless fool that can be bought by a few pretty baubles." She stood on the edge of the window and managed to keep perfectly balanced. "Keep your attention, keep your gifts and keep your_self_ out of my room and my life!" she demanded forcefully, shaking him warningly, her voice thickening with the effort to control her anger to a minimal level.

"Hey," he said, going very still, his voice unconcerned. He didn't want to struggle because he didn't want her to let him go. Not until he was close enough to the window to grab on or until he could reach into his own belt for a grappling device of some sort. Maybe he could teleport away from the bottom edge, but he didn't exactly want to test that theory. "Just because the Boy Blunder's a world class prick doesn't mean you have to take it out on me, does it?" he asked in a deceptively light tone.

"No, but the fact that you broke into my room does," she pointed out.

"Well, I couldn't exactly knock on the front door, could I?" he asked logically.

"No one enters my room without permission," she insisted.

"Okay," he held up his hands, "I got it, no close contact, no touchy feely, and no entering of the room without your say-so..." he confirmed hurriedly. He looked at her, "Does that mean you're going to eject me from ten feet in the air out your window or might I be allowed to walk out the way I came in?"

"Your choices are window or in handcuffs," she said.

"Now," he cocked his head to the side and grinned, even though she couldn't see it...and even though it wasn't perhaps the best time to be making such comments, "If I really believed you were capable of that, I'd never have come here in the first place."

Her power surged and she shook him, not hard enough to jar anything out of place, but certainly enough to make him wish he had a seatbelt of some sort. "And yet you think I'm capable of taking gifts you steal?" she asked.

"No," he answered without hesitation, "But it's the thought that counts, isn't it?"

"You have lost my interest," she decided, and just like that, her power was gone and although it took him a second to actually start to fall, fall he did.

Luckily, he reached the teleportation button and managed to teleport onto her window ledge before she closed it. He hung onto it and knocked on the glass to get her attention, "So that means I actually _had_ your interest?" he asked when she turned to him.

She raised her hand and an overturned statue came at him encased in black energy, but he had pushed out of the way and teleported to the mainland before it had crossed the window's threshold.

"I think," X murmured self-depreciatingly as he walked to his motorcycle's hiding place, "That I should probably reconsider my approach tactics."

By the time the frantic knock came at her door, several of Raven's books had become scattered around her room and the companion statue to the one that went out the window was shattered against the bureau.

"Raven, it's me!" Cyborg exclaimed hurriedly, "X is still in the--"

The door opened and Cyborg took in the appearance of Raven's room in one fell swoop before finding her calm features fixed on his.

"--Tower," he finished.

"Was," Raven corrected. She pointed to her open window. "I purged him from the premises."

Cyborg grinned, slowly. "Atta girl!" he exclaimed. "Need any help around here?" he motioned to the mess of her room.

She shook her head, "No, I'll handle it, you go get some rest."

"Sorry I didn't warn you about him still being here ahead of time," Cyborg said softly, "By the time I realized the computer had registered his entrance and not his exit, it was too late apparently."

"It's alright, Cyborg," Raven assured him. After her minor destructive impulse had abated, she was thankfully calm enough to present an unruffled front. At Cyborg's uncertain look, she walked to him, "He didn't mean me any harm."

Cyborg's face contorted into rage, "How could you say that after he...?"

"I have wards on my room," she explained.

He blinked, "Pardon?"

She sighed, "I have placed magical wards on these four walls," she repeated. "Anything that means me harm cannot pass those wards." She looked at him and shrugged, "He entered, so he obviously did not mean me harm."

"What do you call this?" Cyborg motioned the chaos of the room.

She looked sheepish for all of three seconds, "My doing," she confessed. "While I expelled him." So she didn't tell the _whole _truth, she didn't exactly lie either.

"Ah," Cyborg nodded. "You sure you don't need any help?"

Raven nodded, "Positive. Go rest."

"Alright," Cyborg conceded. "Good night, Raven."

"Good night, Cyborg," Raven echoed.

As Cyborg walked towards his room, he couldn't help but grin. "She doesn't feel for him," Cyborg assured himself, "Not with the damage she must've laid on him to get him out of her room." He nodded, assured in his deductions. He yawned and prepared for a restful night's charge.

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**A/N:** So, whaddya think? You see what a nice person I am? I was going to _really_ leave ya with a cliffie and stop it when she was going to scream. And y'all can thank the appearance of our favorite criminal in this fic to **_Kysra's_** review of Chapter 4. I had already started something of this chapter by the time I read her review and when I read it, I was like, "OOOOOHhhhhhh..."

I debated whether or not X and Robbie-poo should meet in this chapter, but ended up deciding against it.

They will meet soon, though. (I don't _exactly_ know when...yet...but they will!)


	6. Flare

**A/N:** Well...Raven _did_ promise to return the bracelet...Although some of you out there were naughty and suggested she keep it. ((wags finger)) Shame on you!

And shame on me...this one's short. (Just a warning)

Not beta'd.

**Thanks:** On emsscraps. Probably tomorrow.

**Disclaimer:** Yep. Raven, X, AND Robin own my happy ass. That's all I have to disclaim.

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_**Burn  
**__**by Em**_

_**VI: Flare**_

"_Ah, you burn and burn to get under my skin / You've gone too far now, I won't give in._.._"  
- _Garbage, "Vow"

Raven hated legwork, but considering the odd circumstances surrounding the sapphire and platinum bracelet currently in her possession she had no choice but to resort to such tactics. After the local and federal authorities had assured her that the bracelet had not been reported stolen, as of yet, she had no other option but to go to each and every fine gem store, exchange, or dealer that would, has, or might carry a piece such as the one weighing heavily in her inner cloak pocket, in the hopes of locating its true owner.

Perhaps the only thing, however, that Raven hated _more_ than legwork, was doddering old men who should be in a resting home somewhere instead of hindering her investigation.

"Yes," Raven sighed, filling herself with patience so as not to sound rude. "I know it is a beautiful piece," she agreed with the old man's statement, _yet again_. The old man grinned at her brilliantly and Raven almost flinched at the emotion he unknowingly scattered in her direction.

"Simply stunning piece of work," the old man rattled on, as if he hadn't said the _same exact_ thing three times before. "It was made in Prague, I believe, with sapphires taken from the mines of--"

"Thank you," Raven interceded before he could go off on his origins lecture. "I appreciate your expertise, sir," Raven said, trying very hard not to sound sarcastic. (She wasn't sure if the old man would have picked up on her sarcasm, but it was best to be safe, just in case) "But rather than take up any more of your time," _or mine, _Raven interjected silently, "I was hoping you might be able to tell me whether or not you carried this bracelet in the store."

"Yes, I carried this bracelet for awhile," the old, balding man confirmed, looking at her through the jeweler's eyepiece he wore in his right eye. He smiled reminiscently, "A real beauty," he said reverently. "Madagascar Sapphires, weighing in at 10.80, the diamonds at 8.70 carats with a VS clarity grade..." he told her the characteristics of the bracelet which every jeweler she had met had already told her of.

"When was it stolen?" Raven asked, hoping to get the man off the track of what a wonderful bracelet it was and back onto when it was taken from him.

The man, however, blinked at her in confusion for a few moment, the small magnifying eyepiece dropping out of his eye and rolling harmlessly on the carpet by his feet. "It wasn't," he finally answered. Raven must have shown her confusion because the man hastened to assure her, "It _was_ purchased a few days ago, however."

"Purchased?" Raven asked, as if to make certain she had heard correctly. "Are you certain it was this same piece that was purchased?"

The man nodded. "This very one," he told her. He turned the bracelet around and showed her the marking on the inside of the bracelet, where the serial number for all fine gem pieces worth over a certain amount was etched discreetly but legibly into the platinum. "No doubt about that."

Raven frowned. "Do you have the name and address of the person who purchased it?" she asked, wondering already why the purchaser had failed to report it stolen or missing. Surely, a piece such as this would not go unnoticed for days, especially if it was recently purchased.

The little old man smiled mischievously at her, his small eyes squinting in the process, "Now, why would I want to tell you that, dearie?" he asked.

"Because this piece has been stolen," Raven answered stoically, "I'm just trying to return it to its rightful owner."

"Now young lady," the man started, surprisingly enough, in a mildly chastising tone. "If some beau of yours went through all the trouble of buying you such a nice gift and getting it to you all incognito, who am I to help you ruin his surprise?"

Raven blinked. "What?" she couldn't help but ask. She shook her head before he could repeat himself. She had heard him just fine, she just hadn't been certain she had understood him. It occurred to her, however, that perhaps he just hadn't understood her. "That bracelet is stolen," she repeated slowly, enunciating clearly. "I need the name and address, if you have it, of the person who bought it from you because they are obviously the rightful owner and they might not even realize it's been stolen yet."

The old man looked unperturbed. Not like he hadn't understood her or her reasoning, just like he didn't believe her. "Maybe _you_ are it's rightful owner, hmm?"

Raven thought of a few choice things to say to the old man, including numerous questions on the man's capacity as a store owner and operator, but she bit them back, repeating, "It's _stolen_," through clenched teeth as if her word should be sufficient enough.

"How do you know?" the old man asked.

She really didn't want to explain to him that she knew it was stolen because a thief had given it to her after a rash of attempted and foiled jewelry robberies. She really didn't.

"Has it been reported as stolen to any of the usual authorities?" the old man asked logically.

"Well, no," Raven found herself answering the man's logical querie.

"Then how can you be sure?" he shrugged, "It wasn't stolen from me."

Raven couldn't argue his logic, she couldn't, not without explaining to him the circumstances surrounding her possession of it, which she would not do if she could help it.

"Can you at least tell me what the purchaser looked like?" she tried a different approach. "You don't have to tell me his name, just a description – that way, if he looks like someone I know, then I'll know it can't be stolen, but if it's not anyone I know, then I have to keep trying to figure out who it is to verify it wasn't stolen, do you understand?"

The man thought about it for a few moments, then sighed. "Well, fine, but don't blame me if you ruin whatever surprise your beau has planned for you."

"He's not my--" she stopped herself from her instinctual argument. This was quite ridiculous. She drew her dignity around herself like a shawl. "Please continue," she prodded him.

"Well..." the old man looked at her as he considered, "He was young, handsome, tall – taller than me and you both – not too skinny, not too fat, some might say lithe, you know." Raven nodded at him to continue. "Dark, probably black, hair, cut short but a little too long at the top of his head for my liking, though he was neat and clean, not your typical young rumpled look at all, but he was young, probably in his early to mid 20s." Raven nodded, hoping he'd continue, noting that other than a general idea of a build and dark hair (which could describe half of Jump City), she had nothing much to go on. "Oh, and he had those eyes that look brown, until you see them in the right light, you know? Then they look lighter, almost like you could see through them, like..." the old man trailed off. "Like amber," he decided. "You know what I mean?"

Raven's mind whirled with the possibility that the man he was describing was the same one she met in the coffee shop that day a few weeks ago. "Anything else?" she asked.

"He knew his gems, I'll give him that."

Raven just barely withheld a scoff, "I'll bet."

The old man ignored her and continued, "He knew just what he wanted when he saw it too, you know what I mean?" He crossed his arms and shrugged, clearly saying that was all the description he had on the purchaser.

Raven sighed almost imperceptibly as a cold feeling crept icily up her spine to make the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. "I think I'm just starting to figure that out."

Raven took the bracelet back from the old man and, mumbling a thank you to the man for his help, started to walk out of the shop. It wasn't until she had opened the door and the little bells chimed melodiously, that Raven thought of something else to ask the man. She turned around and found the man was still looking at her. "What made you think he was my beau?" she asked.

The man smiled knowingly. "Why he said the sapphires of that bracelet just might match the eyes of a very special girl he meant to give it to..." the man crossed his arms across his chest and winked, "I just had to take one look at your eyes, dearie, to figure out that was you."

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**A/N:** I have some of the next chapter written out, but I'm not certain I like the direction the conversation is going. I might try to alter that some before I decide on whether or not to let the characters direct the conversation..._again_.


	7. Incite

**A/N:** Sorry it took me a while to update this one guys. I keep trying to update on a rolling basis so that I don't forget any of them. Although I'll admit that I tend to leave this one for last because it's really easy for me to update this one because X is so accommodating when I need to write a chapter of this. These chapters come so easily.

Also, I could use your help. I'm posting a journal to my 'emsscraps' livejournal where you can suggest quotes of lyrics, poems, or from literature or whatever that deal with "burn". You know, like the ones I've used so far. If I use them in the story, I'll credit you for finding it for me. How does that sound? I guess you can suggest them here on ff.n too, but it works better for me if you go to the emsscraps journal to do it because that way I can keep track who it is that's suggested it and which one was suggested a lot better.

**Thanks:** On emsscraps.

**Disclaimer:** Yep. Raven, X, AND Robin own my happy ass. That's all I have to disclaim.

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_**Burn  
**__**by Em**_

_**VII: Incite**_

"_It's getting hotter / It's a burning love / And I just can't seem to get enough..."  
_- Depeche Mode, "Just Can't Get Enough"

Just because he was a thief didn't make him a stalker—he wasn't. And he certainly wasn't following her or keeping track of her despite the fact that he was awfully curious to see what move she would make. He knew it wouldn't be long before she figured out that he hadn't stolen the sapphire bracelet. He thought that she might even show up at his hideout, but she didn't.

It never occurred to X that she might _not_ make a move, he knew she would – it was only a matter of figuring out what.

It wasn't that he was necessarily watching out for her, only that any thief worth his salt knew it was in his best interest to keep an eye on the city. How else could he be one step ahead if he didn't? So, when he saw the unmistakable silhouette of Raven standing in the warm breeze on the roof of a building mere feet or so away from his civilian apartment he wasn't surprised – but he _was _impressed.

"Maybe I should just give you my number so you can reach me whenever you want to?"

Raven was not only visibly _not_ surprised, she actually appeared bored. "Who said I want to reach you?"

"So, it's a coincidence that you're here, is it?"

"No, I'm here to return you're trinket."

He took his time about looking her over but couldn't find the bracelet anywhere on her person. "Didn't like it?" He cocked his head to the side consideringly.

"I don't want it," she answered. It didn't escape his notice that she didn't say she didn't like it.

"Why ever not?" he asked, allowing the surprise to enter his modified voice. "You must have figured out it's not stolen goods by now or you wouldn't be offering to give it back to me."

"I don't care that it's not stolen," she answered, some frustration obvious in her voice.

He cocked his head to the side. "Do you prefer emeralds?" He crossed his arms. "They won't go as nice with your eyes, but if you prefer them--"

She did turn to him then. "I want nothing from you, I thought I made that clear when I tossed you out my window."

He grinned, but she couldn't see it. "I don't believe you, obviously."

"What do you think you're accomplishing by giving me these things, other than annoying me?" she asked as if she really wanted to know.

"I'm courting you, of course," he answered easily.

"And do you really think I can be courted by things I wouldn't wear even if it wasn't a thief that gave them to me and I wasn't a hero?" she asked, rolling her eyes.

He neared her thinking, '_Now we're getting somewhere!'_ "Maybe not," he answered aloud, "But I'm just systematically trying out options here."

"Well quit it," she said curtly.

She could almost see the amusement on his face, she could feel it come off him so clearly. "No."

She sighed and turned back to the night, "What do you want X?" she asked, it seemed for the billionth time.

"My answer hasn't changed since the last time you asked, dollface," he shrugged as if it should be obvious, "I want you."

"And after you have me?" she asked, turning back to him. "What then?" She paused. "Will you leave me be?"

X had a moment of anger which confused him. He was rarely angry. You couldn't exactly be angry when you didn't really care about most things, could you? But he was angry that she would assume that he was devoting all this time to her only to discard her after he'd had her. No, he amended. X was nothing if not honest, especially to himself, so he had to acknowledge the realization that he was angry _because_ she obviously thought that was all anyone would want from her. And although he acknowledged it, he set it aside. Later would be the time to figure out why he was angry about something like that.

So, rather than show her that anger, he neared her seductively. "Only one way to find out, sweetheart," he purred.

"Why?" she asked.

"Why?" he echoed, stumped. "Because you're a bundle of contradictions," he started amusement high in his tone. "Because you look out at the world with ice in your expression but fire in your eyes," he continued, taking a step toward her and moving like he wanted to touch her but was keeping back from it. "Because it's that very fire in your eyes that intrigues me, because you're unlike any girl I've ever met, because everything about you fascinates me and..." he stopped when her eyes almost inadvertently opened a little in surprise. He was smiling and couldn't keep it from his voice. "I want to know how you feel under my fingers. I want to know if I can make you scream in pleasure or if you'll try to repress that just as fiercely: will you clutch at me? Bite me? Scratch me? Will you gasp or call out? Will your fire burn me, Raven?"

He took the opportunity of her shock to approach her a few steps. She didn't pull away and he smiled, even though she couldn't see it.

"Aren't you curious, Raven?" he asked, his voice pitched low and intimate. "Curious about what I can do for you? What I can make you feel? Just a little curious about the sort of power _you'd_ have over _me_?" he tempted.

"I'm curious only about what prompted this sudden interest in me," she said evenly. "Why after flirting with Starfire all this time, you realize this sudden infatuation with me?"

He chuckled, "I figured out the kind of girl Starshine was without even trying." He stopped advancing, waiting for her to make a move. "And although it's fun to goad her, she's not for me." He crossed his arms and he almost saw her visibly relax. "Now you..." he pressed a button and he heard the click of the deactivation of the voice changer. She had already heard his real voice anyway and he wanted her to hear the sincerity in his voice as he continued this conversation. He knew that sincerity was key with Raven. "You are a mystery," he said in his natural voice, watching as he surprised her yet again by the change. "Even after all I know about you, I haven't even scratched the surface. You entrance me."

Raven was surprised to feel the truth of his words. "Do you expect me to believe you?" she asked, despite knowing, the way she usually did without even trying, that he was telling the truth.

"You know that I'm telling the truth," he said. "But the only proof I can offer you is my continued attentions." He laughed at the look of anxiety that flashed across her face before she controlled it. "I'm not promising you anything beyond some fun, but I think that's all you want yourself, isn't it?"

Raven frowned. "I want nothing of the sort."

He tsked. "Come now, Raven, I'm being honest with you," he chastised mildly. "Can't you be honest with me?" He approached her another step. "Can you admit that I fascinate _you_?"

She raised a brow and he smiled.

"That you want to play the game with me?"

Without answering, Raven turned and started to walk away.

"At least you didn't deny it," he called out after her.

She stopped halfway across the roof and turned her upper body to look at him, an expression of casual curiosity on her features. "If the way you've been '_courting_' me up until now is an indication of all that you say you know about me already, then I'd say you got your information from a faulty source," she said seemingly out of the blue before turning around and continuing her way.

X raised a brow under his mask and grinned. "But you still didn't return the bracelet!" he called out as she stepped on the ledge.

She glanced back at him, "Didn't I?" she wondered before taking off without another word.

He watched her disappear over the horizon in the direction of the T shaped Tower and once she was out of sight, he patted his person. She hadn't gotten close enough to plant the bracelet on him even if she could have done it without him noticing, but just in case. When he was satisfied that she hadn't slipped the jewelry piece back onto his person, he made his way to his civilian apartment, using the customary precautions of going unseen almost automatically. He was thinking of what he knew about her and how he should alter his courting plans, so it wasn't until he was back in civilian clothing and standing in front of the open fridge door that he realized he was staring at the shine of the fridge light glittering on platinum and winking on sapphires.

Realizing that he was in fact seeing the bracelet he had put in Raven's tea kettle but two days before, he reached out and lifted it from around the neck of his orange juice bottle where it had sat like some deranged kind of necklace.

"The little minx," he mumbled to himself, smiling broadly. He closed his hand around the bracelet and removed the orange juice bottle to pour himself a cup. He didn't really care that she had breached his security or found his home in the first place. He didn't bother trying to see if something else was taken or displaced, he knew it wouldn't be. He knew, after all, that Raven had only been trying to make a point. A point that despite being well made, only served to incite his interest all the more.

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**A/N:** Remember to check out my 'emsscraps' if you've got any 'burn' quotes you want to share. Oh yeah, and remember to let me know what you think of the Raven/X conversation, yeah?


	8. Heat

**A/N:** The next chapter of "Burn" will be pretty hot on the heels of (heh, that was a pun! Get it?) this one, so no one kill me for making it so short and leaving it without really moving the main part of the story – _but_ if you read really carefully, you might notice that something pretty major is happening in this chapter...

Or maybe that's just wishful thinking on my part.

Anyway, the next chapter is already written in first draft form and the chapter after that is planned out in my head. So, moving right along...

**Thanks:** On emsscraps.

**Disclaimer:** Me and Kysra are working on setting up our NightwingClone business, but since we haven't figured out how to get his DNA just yet, my partners and I on a bit of a standstill. So, no. I don't own any of these character (yet, jeje) and I disclaim any rights to anything other than the actual story.

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_**Burn  
**__**by Em**_

_**VIII: Heat  
**_"_Love has made me a fool / it set me on fire and watched as I floundered / unable to speak / except to cry out and wait for your answer..."  
_- Sarah Mclachlan, "Stupid"

When Raven walked into the Tower, Robin was at the desk, his face lowered to the paperwork on the desk and illuminated by the flickering glow of the idle computer screen in front of him. He looked up at her as she entered, but her only sign of recognition was a slight nod in his direction as she passed.

Robin was used to this, Raven was not one for idle pleasantries, so he took no offense and on some other day, it might have been enough. As he happened to have something he wanted to know, he pushed back from the computer, leaned back in the rolling chair and spoke, "Did you return the bracelet to its rightful owner?"

Raven didn't even look at him as she walked into the kitchen. "Yes," she answered.

When it was apparent that was all she was going to say on the matter, he stood and followed her, stopping to lean his shoulder against the wall at the threshold to the kitchen. He crossed his arms and watched her walk to the refrigerator before asking, "Where did he steal it from?"

Raven bent to search inside the refrigerator and answered, "He didn't."

Robin quirked a brow, "Say again?"

She poured herself a glass of water. "The bracelet was not stolen," she explained.

Robin stood up straight, his arms dropping to his sides in surprise. "He bought it?" He asked disbelievingly.

"He bought it," she confirmed unemotionally raising the glass to her lips.

It took him all of three seconds to make the logical connection between her saying she had returned it to its rightful owner and the fact that X himself had bought it. His jaw clenched as he watched her drink deeply from the glass. "And you returned it to _him_?"

She lowered the glass and walked to the sink. "I did," she answered without looking at him.

He wished he could get her to stop moving and just talk to him. If it were anyone but Raven, he might be inclined to believe she was trying to avoid looking at him. "How exactly did you accomplish that?"

She reached for the cabinets above the sink and busied herself searching inside it. "I just handed it to him," she answered, her tone insinuating he should have figured that one out on his own.

He thought then she was definitely being difficult on purpose. "You know what I mean, Raven," he said, trying to keep his tone casual. She looked at him mid reach and raised a brow. She didn't have to argue with him, her look did it for her. "How did you find Red-X in order to give him the bracelet back?" he clarified.

"It wasn't hard," she said, closing the cupboard and going to the pantry cabinets.

"How?" Robin repeated.

She paused, one hand on the pantry door, facing the inside of the cabinet, but not moving toward it. "I stood still." She looked at him. "He found me."

Robin frowned, "What do you mean, he found you?" he pressed.

"I mean he found where I was and came to me," she explained, turning back into the cupboard and lifting box after box, finding them empty. "Are you feeling alright?" she asked him suddenly. "These aren't difficult leaps of logic here, Boy Wonder."

Robin took a step into the room, but stopped not two steps later. He was certainly not in the mood to banter with her tonight. He had been worried about her from the moment X declared his intentions and especially when she was out all day by herself, without calling in for more than two minutes to say she had found nothing and then. Hours. He had been about to give in and call her when she strolls into the Tower calm as you please, as if the fact that a career criminal was giving her jewelry he had _bought_ was a common day occurrence.

If she was being calm and casual about the whole thing, however, he could certainly maintain it on the professional level. "How long do you think he was following you?"

She shook her head. "I don't think he was," she looked into an apparently empty box of cereal, sighing when her suspicions were confirmed, before continuing, "Not tonight, anyway. I was just on his way home, I think."

"Home?" Robin asked, raising a brow and taking another step toward her. "You know where he lives?"

Raven looked at him. "No." She reached for a pack of probably stale granola and started out of the kitchen. Robin took her arm as she passed him and they stared at each other. He didn't need to ask her to clarify or press with words for more information. Their gazes locked and their wills debated with a raised eyebrow, a flick of emotion, a glint of determination. After a moment, when it was obvious he wasn't backing down, she sighed. "I simply waited somewhere in the vicinity of the general area he always seems to disappear to."

Robin let her go and nodded, but not like he was happy. "Did he tell you what he wanted from you?"

Raven considered his question for a moment before nodding. "He said I _fascinated_ him."

Robin felt something akin to fear run down his spine, like ice. He resisted the shiver as hard as he resisted thinking of the implications of X's statement to her and the ease with which she stated it. Thankfully, he was slightly more successful at suppressing the shiver than he was of not thinking...things. Things like the fact that she had done more than simply hand him (or throw him, or shove down his throat for that matter) the stupid bracelet—things like the fact they obviously talked. And more things, too. Things he wasn't sure he wanted to think about (but thought about anyway, even if he pushed them aside just as quickly as they occurred to him) like how it made him feel that someone else – like X – would be so blatant with her about his feelings.

Finally, frowning, he asked, "Do you believe him?" He wasn't particularly pleased with his choice of questions, but considering his initial instinct had been to make use of several expletives he had become familiar with during his time with the less than savory element of Gotham City's underworld, he thought what he decided on instead was a pretty damn good alternative.

The tone of his voice struck a chord in her, however, and she reacted for the first time in the whole conversation. She turned to face him fully and cocked her head to the side. "Shouldn't I?"

And he knew that maybe it would've been better if he'd have cursed instead. Somewhere inside him, he knew what he wanted to say, but there seemed to be some sort of miscommunication between where the real things he wanted to say were stored and the parts of him that produced speech, and while he searched for something (anything) to say instead, the silence hung between them like a taut cord.

If Robin had a fatal flaw, it would be impulsiveness. In actions and words. Unfortunately, he knew this, and no matter how much he tried to mend his ways, when the emotion was riding him, he could never control his mouth from saying the first thing he thought. "No," he decided, wincing only after the word was out of his mouth. Where Raven always thought every word out of her mouth through so thoroughly, Robin rarely did – if he was in the midst of some emotion, anyway. At least, that was his excuse as to why he didn't consider that Raven might have meant the question in a completely different way that how he had answered it.

Her lips pressed into a tight line, "Well, I understand I'm no Starfire, but I suppose every one has a right to their particular tastes--"

"He's a criminal, Raven," he blurted.

She raised a brow, the tension in her lips belying what should have been a casually apathetic gesture. "Thanks for the news flash, Blunder Boy," she said sarcastically.

"I know you know that," he said. "That's not what I meant to say at all."

Her look told him exactly how badly he had fucked it up. "So what you're trying to say," she said, her voice deceptively calm, "is that he didn't mean that he wants to learn more about my hopes and dreams, my plans for the future and how many kids I want to have?" she asked sarcastically. "And that I should get the idea of setting up house behind a white picket fence with a masked career criminal out of my head before I become enamored of it?"

Her words hit their mark and the sting of them bit into his unreasonable behavior. "I didn't mean it like that," he said, his tone chastised, his expression softer.

"So what _did_ you mean?" she asked, her own tone only slightly less sarcastic. She was never one to accept idle apologies.

"You can't trust what he says," he said on an exhale, his hands going limp at his sides in resignation. "I just meant he's a criminal, therefore, he lies."

She looked suddenly much older than her 17 years. "Everyone lies about something," she answered philosophically and shrugged. "The difference is what they're reason is for lying."

"And what's his reason?" Robin asked, knowing better than to argue with her about the fact that everyone lied. He had no ground to argue.

She looked at him. "I haven't figured that out yet," she answered.

She seemed to wait for him to say something more, but when he didn't, she turned away and started, presumably, for her room.

Robin suddenly knew there was more he had to say, and even though he didn't know exactly what or how to go about it, he knew in that way that instinct was born, that if he let her walk away the moment _(To speak? To figure it out?)_ would be gone with it, his chances.

His usually quick mind worked through several reasons to keep her talking, finally coming to one sufficiently casual to get them back on neutral footing. So, he followed her into the living room and spoke again, "Have you eaten?"

She shook her head and showed him the granola. "Not yet."

"Neither have I."

She turned to him, brow raised. "There's another granola bar in the cupboard," she offered. "Although I can't attest to either's freshness."

He winced and she shrugged in that casual, graceful way she had. "How about Chinese?" he asked.

Her eyes searched him for a moment. "Make it Japanese and you've got a deal."

"Fine, but we go out to get it. I hate Japanese delivery."

She tossed the granola bar in the trash and walked toward the elevator. "You drive."

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

**A/N:** You can still go to my 'emsscraps' journal where the post for you to suggest 'burn' quotes or fire related songs/quotes, etc. (emsscraps . livejournal .com / 38197 . html)

**ANNOUNCEMENT:**

Know any good Teen Titan fics? Wanna nominate them for an award (good for nothing except bragging rights)? Wanna keep abreast of the best Teen Titan stories? Then keep an eye out for for the **_Titan Awards_**, a soon to come Livejournal Community who's sole purpose will be to grant bi-annual awards to the best of the best in fic out there. Members will be able to nominate fics for consideration and they'll even be able to vote on their favorites for the win! The winners will be promoted in the community (and maybe even get a nifty banner – we're not sure that far yet—are we? ((looks at other mods)) ) It will be a community open to all pairings and for all kinds of genres. So, keep an eye out, ya? And tell yer friends. The more people who nominate, the better, right? ((wink))


	9. Siren

**A/N:** Told ya this one would be up quickly. Although the truth is, I was thinking that I hadn't finished it, but that I had part of some dialogue, and what that is actually is parts of dialogue for the next chapter after this one. So, yeah. I've got some dialogue for Chapter X already. Some of it might not make it. Don't know yet.

I think only one person caught the pretty big thing happening in the last chapter. (At least, caught it and reviewed to let me know) Kudos to you, **_Guyute24!_**

I wasn't going to post this one yet, but I figured, what the hell? I might as well before I go off for the EoD and am _incommunicado_ for a few days.

**Special A/N:** Um...I know I said to keep your collective eyes out for the TitanAwards community and this is still true, however, some of you guys have gone about nominating stories through your reviews to me, and as happy as I am that you guys are taking a liking to the idea of nominating fics, I can't accept those nominations! I'm sorry. But 1 – we're not accepting nominations yet. The community isn't even up and running yet! And 2 – when we are ready to accept nominations, it won't be through our reviews on here. It'll be directly on the lj community and you'll have to become a member of the community to nominate anyone. And, they'll be an open nomination period wherein which you can nominate. So, keep your eyes peeled for the announcement that the community is set up and ready to accept members, but until then, hold onto the ideas of who you want to nominate, okay?

**Thanks:** I'll be posting those on 'emsscraps' eventually.

_**Burn  
**__**by Em**_

_**IX: Siren  
**__"She's a frozen fire / She's my one desire"_  
- The Cars, Let's Go

X was, perhaps, too blunt. But that wasn't the word. He had been told that he was straight forward and impulsive many a time – spontaneous, certainly. Maybe even capricious. Was it his fault that he didn't believe in beating around the bush when he wanted something? Was it his fault that he tended to take first and ask questions later? No, of course not. Life had taught him that. If he spent too much time thinking about things, planning things, wondering about them and trying to figure out every possible consequence of his actions, he'd never accomplish a god damn thing.

It was the only real reason he managed to keep one step ahead of the Titans for so long. He was unpredictable, because even _he_ didn't know what he'd do in any given situation. Sure, he planned his heists. Only an idiot would go into the complicated thievery he went into without planning for the best entry times, the best escape routes and the like, and everyone knew X was no idiot. But he didn't plan for _every_ eventuality. He just couldn't. He had a Plan A and _maybe_ a Plan B. If neither of those two worked, Plan C was pretty standard: 'Get the hell outta there with as much loot as possible'.

If he tried to plan for every eventuality, he'd be no smarter than Bird Boy, who gets so involved in over thinking things he psyches himself out of acting.

Why else wouldn't he have made a move on the Dark Witch?

If X was an expert on anything, he was an expert on want – desire – covetous longing. Bird Brain had all three, and all toward the Witch. He could see that from a mile away. It was also obvious he hadn't said a thing to her about it.

X almost laughed aloud at the thought. The Boy Wonder afraid of a girl?

No, maybe afraid wasn't the word...nervous? Oh, hell, he didn't know, and the truth was, X didn't care. All he cared about was that Rob-o hadn't made a move on Raven yet, hadn't even acknowledged the fact that he had a move to make. But he would soon. He knew that as well as he knew his own name. Someone who wanted someone so bad couldn't possibly keep it a secret when their chances were being threatened by someone else.

Which meant to X that perhaps his usual way of approaching a situation wasn't the best method of approach where Raven was concerned after all. Being blunt about his interest and straight forward about his desire for her had gained him no ground...

Well...it had gained him some ground. He could be wrong, but Raven's last words to him on the rooftop not too far from his apartment seemed to him that she had taken up the gauntlet for his little game. He just had to find a board she'd want to play on.

Which was why, of course, he was crouched on a low rooftop two block away from Butai Japanese Restaurant in Jump City's answer to Chinatown watching as Robin followed Raven inside.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxx_

**A/N:** Short, I know. Sorry. I have bits of dialogue for the next chapter written already. Just not finished. Eheh...


	10. Swelter

**A/N:** Okay…so…meanwhile, seventeen months later, everyone I left on the cliffie last chapter has perished from expectancy or, alternatively, has tired of trying to figure out where I live in order to attack me with pitchforks and torches. Ehehehe……

I have no excuses. Sure, life has been kicking my ass lately, and there have been lots of advancements in my life and a lot of responsibility thrust onto my shoulders, but the truth of it is that I had written a huge chunk of this chapter way back when, but I wasn't sure I liked it. I had to give myself some time to decide if it was good, and if it worked with the rest of the story, if it kept the same feel of it, and most importantly, if it was going in the right direction.

So…after all that, I'm still not sure I like all of this…but it's better than it was before.

**Thanks:** On 'emsscraps' eventually. I think **_Kysra_** and **_Absentia_** got tired of hearing me talk about this chapter – not knowing what I wanted to do with it. So, thank them y'all, that this got put up.

_**Burn  
**__**By Em**_

_**X: Swelter**_

_"Did you come here to watch me, watch me burn?"  
_- Three Days Grace, "Burn"

The restaurant was unpretentious, minimalist, and traditional. When the other Titans had walked inside it the first time, they had gaped in horror and promptly begged off, opting for the Pizza place five blocks down.

It was, however, just the style for the two quieter, more serious, of the Titans and it was a place they frequented as often as possible.

So frequent in fact, the proprietress (a lovely older Japanese woman by the name of Ranka-san(1)) knew them by sight. She even knew them as Titans despite their lack of costumes.

And so it was that no sooner had they stepped through the door than with a traditional Japanese welcome and mild good-natured chiding for having stayed away so long, Ranka-san led them to their usual table, near to the back of the restaurant where they could watch more than be watched.

When Ranka-san left them with their menus, Raven wasted no time in turning her attention to the glossy pages. Robin, for his part, was watching her.

"What?" she asked, focused on scanning the daily specials.

"Feeling experimental?" he asked, obviously amused.

"Not particularly," she answered, her eyes moving across the laminated surface. "Why do you ask?"

"Because in all the time we've been coming here, you always get the same thing." When she met his eyes over the rim of the menu, he grinned. "You never have to look at the menu."

She shrugged minimally and closed the menu at issue, laying it under her gracefully folded hands. "So, I don't feel like having Tonkatsu," she said. "You should try a little variety every once in awhile."

"Why should I mess with something I know I like?" he asked. "What if I try the Nikujaga, for example, and don't like it?" He shrugged, certain in his logical reasoning. "Then I'll have a plate full of Nikujaga that I won't eat and have missed out on having the Gyoza which I like and enjoy very much."

Raven was looking at him as if she weren't sure he wasn't at least partly mad. "Then I give you some of my plate and I eat the Nikujaga, because it's wonderful."

Robin chuckled. "I don't think that's the point of my analogy."

Raven frowned. "I don't think _you_ know what the point of your analogy was."

He nodded. "I do." At her incredulous look he folded his arms over his chest, resting on the table in front of him. "Why go looking for something different that might give me heartburn, when I know that I can have something I love instead?" Their eyes held while Raven seemingly thought of some kind of retort. "That's the point of my analogy," he finished, turning to the waitress when she approached.

"Are you ready to order?" the waitress asked.

Robin smiled at her and turned to Raven. "Do you know what you want?" he asked.

"I'll have the Katsudon," Raven told the waitress, handing her the menu. "With miso on the side, please."

Robin smirked and handed the waitress his menu as well. "Gyoza for me, please."

Bereft of a menu to divert her attention, Raven was left with little choice but to stare at her companion.

"So," Robin started, attempting to fill in the silence between them.

"What are you going to do about X," Raven said in her signature deadpan, taking a casual sip from her water glass after she had done so.

Robin blinked, "What?"

Raven raised a brow. "Well, wasn't that what you were going to say?"

Robin shook his head. "No, actually, it wasn't."

Raven's second brow rose to join the first arched gracefully over her eyes.

Robin smirked, "It was what I was trying _not_ to say."

"Ah," Raven answered, her brows lowering, leaving her expressionless once more.

"So…" Robin began.

Raven almost smirked. "Are we back here again, then?"

"How did you like the ending of that book you were reading?" Robin decided, spur of the moment.

Raven just barely withheld a smile. "Which book?"

"The one," Robin tried valiantly. "You know, the one you were reading last week?"

"I was reading three fiction novels, an historical study, and a biography last week," Raven answered, deadpan.

Robin felt his eyes go wide. "You're kidding?"

Raven waited, her expression giving nothing away.

"You're not kidding," Robin determined, amazed.

Raven's shrug was a mere insinuation of a lift of her left shoulder.

"What biography did you read?"

"Albert Einstein: The Persistent Illusion of Transcience,(1)" she answered.

"Hey, that's right," Robin said, leaning forward on the table. "I remember reading a few years ago that Einstein could be considered one of the 20th Century's great mystics."

Raven half-shrugged again, "I suppose it depends on your definition of mystic," she raised a hand in a somewhat dismissive gesture, "I'm not really that familiar with Einstein, hence why I picked up the biography."

"What was the book about?" he asked.

Raven looked at him for a few moments before leaning on the table herself. "The man was a genius, often misunderstood in his youth, and overall, it was boring," she said casually. "And, while we're at it, is this really what you invited me out to dinner to talk about?"

Robin smiled. "Well, talking about your approach to the X situation is out, talking shop would inevitably lead to talking about X since that _has _been our work for the last few weeks, so if literature is out, that leaves the weather or politics." He cocked his head to look at her. "But seeing as how this is California and the weather rarely changes, certainly not in the last few weeks, and since we both have primarily the same views in politics, I don't really know what that would leave us to talk about."

"Why would talking about my approach to the X situation be out?" Raven asked after a few moments.

"I trust you, Raven," he answered after a moment. He waited while the waitress who had arrived with their meal set it down before them and quietly left. He looked down at his plate of gyoza and when he realized she hadn't started eating, he looked up at her. "That's what I really wanted to say in the kitchen when you got back, I guess," he finished. "Whatever way you decide to deal with this, that's fine, you don't have to tell me, I trust you."

Raven stared at him for a few moments before reaching for her bowl of soup. "If you'd have said that in the kitchen, it wouldn't be costing you a meal," she said, lowering her gaze to her food.

"I enjoy sharing a meal with you," Robin answered, using his chopsticks to expertly dip the dumpling into the soy sauce.

"Even if we don't have anything to talk about?" Raven asked.

"I still say there's literature left on the table," Robin said.

"So, what was the last thing you read?" Raven asked, sipping the soup from the white ceramic spoon.

"The Art of War,(2)" Robin answered, popping a gyoza neatly into his mouth then lowering his chopsticks to his rice.

"You really are predictable," Raven mused.

"Oh?" he asked, smiling. "What would you have me read? A romance?"

"Have you ever read a romance?" Raven countered.

"No," Robin laughed. He stopped, white, sticky rice halfway to his mouth, and stared at her. "Have _you_?"

"Of course," she answered, unconcerned.

"Oh?" Robin prodded, not bothering to hide his amusement. "The kind with Fabio on the cover?"

Raven raised her eyes to meet his as she took a spoonful of soup. "That's a rather old fashioned reference."

"So, who _is _on the cover these days?" Robin teased.

Raven was silent for a few spoonfuls. "There is always current events," she offered.

"Yes, I suppose," Robin said, his tone taking on that of a perfect gentleman. "What do you think about the Jump City Jets this season?"

Raven paused. "Is that football or basketball?"

Robin laughed.

"Baseball?" Raven tried, utterly deadpan.

"So, how's your Katsudon?" Robin asked as she set aside her finished bowl of soup and started in on her main dish.

"It's good," she said when she had swallowed. He was looking at her in something akin to disbelief, so she pulled back from the next bite of seasoned pork and held the chopsticks out across the table toward him. "Taste."

He quirked a brow and with a quick shake of his head, lowered his eyes back to his own dinner. "No thank you, I'm perfectly content with my…"

Out of the corner of his eye, he noted that she did not withdraw her arm. With a sigh, he looked back at her and leaned forward, opening his mouth and raising a hand to steady hers as she fed him.

He chewed it thoughtfully, his eyes caught by the inquisition in hers.

"It's…" he said when enough had been swallowed that he could speak. "…good," he finished.

Raven quirked her head and observed him for a moment, then shook her head and smiled, just slightly.

"What?" he asked.

She went back to her own meal. "At least now you know you don't like it."

"I never said I didn't like it," Robin argued.

Raven met his eyes and he couldn't hold her gaze with any semblance of seriousness.

"Okay, so it tastes like overfried eggs mixed with spicy pork and feels like a gooey salt-lick going down my throat," Robin admitted.

She nodded, once. "As I said: at least now you know." She chewed on another mouthful of her own dinner before motioning his. "How is your food?"

He grinned. "As good as I remember." He took a drink of his tea as he watched her. "So, do you really like that?"

She took another bite and looked at him as if that should answer the question. "I would have liked it maybe with the demi glaze and the green peas more than this simple one, but it is satisfying."

"Better than the Tonkatsu?" he asked, a sly grin on his lips revealing the question wasn't exactly as neutral as it might have been.

"Good enough for now," she answered coolly.

He laughed and took a bite of his own dinner, letting her answer suffice for the present.

_xxxxxxxx_

In retrospect, he had probably been in the restaurant for as long as they had -- it wouldn't surprise her to find he had been there before, even. She hadn't seen him enter, however, and although some part of her had noticed the back of his dark head sitting a table away and to the left, she might not have noticed him at all, even when he stood, turned, and started walking toward her, if she hadn't dropped her napkin.

It was at this point, when the man walking alongside their table crouched to retrieve her napkin that their eyes met.

"Thank you," Raven said, taking her napkin back.

"No worries, luv," he winked at her, standing, and with a brief glance at Robin walked on.

She was telling herself she was probably wrong – it was probably just someone who looked like him, when Robin spoke.

"Know him?"

Raven blinked at him and shook her head. "No," was all she said.

"Then what's wrong?" Robin pressed. "The katsudon not agreeing with you?" he teased.

She shot him a glare and placed her napkin on the table, standing.

Robin laughed. "Oh, I didn't actually think I was right!" he said.

"A little louder, Richard," she urged sarcastically under her breath. "I don't think they heard you in Shanghai," she said, turning and starting for the restrooms at the back of the restaurant.

It was only because his laughter was still in her ears that she didn't feel the presence in the shadows of the hallway between a crate of packaged noodles and the back door.

Still, he was fast, she _had_ to give him that.

Granted: she was preoccupied. And no, she wasn't exactly expecting his hand to reach out from behind a crate of packaged noodles like a snake. Nonetheless, she couldn't deny the fact that he was fast and that before she could even think to react, he had pulled her out of view into a side hallway and managed to press her up against the wall – all without being rough or bruising.

So, no, she could not deny that he was fast and graceful -- even as she realized he had pressed his lips to hers as she opened her mouth to protest, stealing her breath and taking advantage of the situation to invade her mouth.

Despite Raven's above-average reaction time and notoriously unflappable disposition, it took her a few moments to recognize that this man had assaulted her and taken her mouth by force (even if he did kiss like he wasn't sure if he wanted to taste her or seduce her) and meanwhile, she was letting him.

After that breakthrough realization, the awareness of the state of the rest of her body (his knee between her legs, his hands holding her wrists against the concrete wall) came in quick, rapid-fire succession. She knew fighting back or struggling was not in her best interest -- he currently had every leverage...

Except one...

_xxxxxxxxx_

He had a split second to relish in his triumph, a moment to explore the taste of her…

And then she bit him.

Hard enough so that he left the taste of his blood in her mouth when he pulled back, and his fingers touching his lips were tinged in red.

The look on her face was pure murder and for the first time, outside of battle, he felt the lick of Raven's fire.

"Touch me again without my permission and you will watch as birds pick at your intestines," she hissed.

He believed her, entirely and completely. What was more, he knew the only reason she hadn't done worse than bite him was because they were in a public place and she had quite a bit of self-control.

He licked at his wound and smiled anyway. "With the taste of you in my mouth, it would certainly be worth it," he answered seriously.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" she asked, her voice still a very moderated, very controlled hiss.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" he asked casually. "I'm taking notes," he leaned on the wall next to him. "Although to tell you the truth, if what Robbie-boy is doing in there is what you call courting, then no wonder you're having such a hard time recognizing my interest."

She leaned back from him and stared at him assessingly. "You haven't been doing a spectacular job either, you understand," she pointed out calmly. "If _courting_ me is your goal, that is."

He laughed. "I don't know if I'd agree with you there," he maintained. "After all, you've already talked to me more times and for longer periods than just about any man not one of your Titans."

Her look turned considering. "Have you been counting?" she asked.

He grinned. "I told you I've been taking notes, didn't I?"

"Not very accurate ones, then," she aruged. "By my count, I've fought you a handful of times, foiled more than a few of your nefarious plans, returned an item to you, and thrown you out of my window." She cocked her head to the side a little. "None of which I would describe as _talking_."

"Is that the way you remember it?" he asked, obviously amused. "I seem to remember those events differently."

"Oh?" she queried.

"Hm," he agreed. "By _my_ count, we've flirted and had some foreplay, you have anticipated my moves once or twice, stalked me enough to figure out where I _lived_, and helped me escape the Tower."

"There are lots of people who mistake their imagination for their memory."(1)

He laughed again. "What about that time in the coffee shop?" he asked. "All we did then was talk," he pointed out.

"Is that what you thought I was doing?" she asked. "Talking to you?"

"You disagree?" he asked, raising a brow.

"To my recollection, I questioned you and threatened you," she crossed her arms over her chest. "That hardly constitutes a conversation of the sort you're implying we've had."

He smirked and the fluorescent hallway lights shone in his amber eyes. "Fine," he conceded. "So, why don't we talk now?" he asked, bracing a hand on the wall behind her, and leaning toward her just close enough to see the flares of blue in her eyes.

"I'm busy," she answered dismissively.

"Is that so?" he asked on a laugh. "Looks to me as if you escaped a boring dinner to come make out with me behind the crates."

She raised a brow, but didn't give an inch. "Your perception is as flawed as your memory."

"C'mon, Rae," he coaxed. "Let's blow this joint," he neared her as if he were inviting her kiss. "I bet I can show you a much better time than Wonder Blunder over there," he smiled seductively, his free hand reaching out and _almost_ touching the hair that fell around her face. "I'll have plenty of time to learn what _brings you bliss_ during a night on the town."

She was silent until he met her eyes. "And why should I waste my time until you find out?" she asked.

"Waste your time?" he asked. "Is that right?" he smirked. "So, why don't you tell me what other thrilling plans you had for the evening?" he asked, his tone a blend of amusement and sarcasm. "After this _invigorating_ dinner, that is," he added, the ever-present smirk oh-so-prominent on his generous lips. "I'm sure Chuckles over there has the whole evening planned, doesn't he," he encouraged. "So, what is it?" At her non-answer, the smirk turned into a full-on smile. "Wait, let me guess," he looked at her features as if he could find the answer there. "A night in front of the crime computer?" When she said nothing, he continued to guess. "Maybe a stakeout?" he questioned. "Oh! I know!" he said, grinning outright. "Filling out paperwork at JCP Central!" he determined. Taking her lack of response for assent, he raised a brow at her. "Mmmhmmm, you're right…those are much better alternatives…they're so _hot_."

She almost smiled and he was momentarily astounded by the realization. Until he realized it wasn't the kind of smile that meant she was touched or even enticed. No, he realized, it was more the kind of smile the cat gave the canary. "It's blatantly obvious that if you can't even properly speculate as to what I'd consider a night out any better than that, even for all your _notes_, you know nothing about me," she quirked her lips to the side. "Which of course means this _must _be the extent of your entertainment value as far as I'm concerned." She lifted one shoulder the smallest bit and shifted, pushing forward so that they were a hairs' breadth apart. "Goodbye," she enunciated, moving forward and forcing him to either step aside or hold her forcibly in place.

And after his last small show of force, he wasn't ready to try another one, so he stepped aside. As she passed him, however, he reached out and took hold of her hand, bringing her attention back to him.

"This isn't goodbye quite yet, sweetheart," he told her. "I love a challenge."

She turned to look at him over her shoulder. "So take up macramé," she answered stoically. "I hear it's quite demanding."

"No thanks," he winked at her. "I always go after the best, and it seems to me, you're the best challenge out there."

She was looking at him measuringly again, reading something on his practiced, pleasantly blank face he didn't know he was revealing. "Don't you have anything better to do than be annoying?" she asked.

"Yes, but you don't approve of it, so," he opened his arms wide and cocked his head. "Here I am, instead."

"Since when do you care what I approve or don't approve of?"

He grinned. "Since I realized seducing you was more fun than stealing anything else I could think of – with rewards much more sweet."

She opened her mouth to answer, but was interrupted by the distinct sound of a throat clearing just behind her.

"I think I'm interrupting something," Robin spoke.

_xxxxxxxxxx_

**Notes:**

(1) Anyone care to guess where I got this name from? Here's a hint: Think Okama in a manga/anime.

(2) A quote from Josh Billings

**A/N:** ((cowers)) Don't kill me please! Think only that I would have left it back when Raven left the table. ((tentative smile)) (y'all have Absentia and Kysra to thank that I didn't.) If I continued any further, it would have been at a possibly worse cliffie than this one, so…yeah…

So…objectively…what do you think? Is everyone still in character? Does it flow with the way the story was going before?


	11. Sizzle

**Special A/N: **This chapter is courtesy of _**rockerbaby150**_ who, when she won a contest I held on my lj, requested the next chapter of _**Burn**_ as her prize. (I offered to write something new, or the next chapter of one of my ongoing fics, and she chose this one) so g'on and thank her if you like it.

**A/N:** That said...I understand completely if all y'all want to hang me up by my toenails and roast me over the fire of your hatred for keeping you on that cliffie for so long. I have reasons, but I doubt they'd be worthy...it's been almost 2 years since I updated this story. I'm really sorry. But I think I kinda psyched myself out from it. Honest. I kept trying to write this chapter and the way I was going with it just wasn't, well (forgive the pun) light my fire. I didn't like it. And then I didn't really like the way it was going and I just got all tangled up in trying to make what I had already written worth a damn, instead of just scrapping it and starting over.

Which is what I ended up doing.

That said: this has not been beta'd. No one of the usual suspects has even READ this, so yeah. If it sucks, blame it entirely and solely on me.

**Thanks:** As always to _**Kysra**_ and _**Absentia**__,_ who although I didn't torture them with this final draft, I did torture with enough talk about this chapter in the preceding two years so as to merit a humanitarian award for patience. A very special thanks, though, goes to _**Absentia **_who actually provided one part of this chapter in one of her reviews to me and gave me a great big whomping idea of how to pursue this from that. And of course, to all the reviewers who consistently read my stuff, and don't give up on me. ::great big massive huggle:: (Yes, I'll respond individually, if you asked something, through review response.)

_**Burn  
By Em**_

**_XI: Sizzle_**

"_Fever / 'till you sizzle / but what a lovely way to burn."_  
- Fever, Peggy Lee

"I think I'm interrupting something," Robin spoke.

Raven turned to look at Robin, but he wasn't looking at her and before she could say a word, the man at her side leaned casually against the wall at his back and smirked.

"Yeah, actually, y'are, mate," X answered, slipping easily into an accent. "D'you mind?"

Robin took a step toward X, his every muscle tensed for a fight, "Do you really want to do this here?" he asked, motioning the restaurant around them, his tone cool and collected.

X grinned. "What, you wanna challenge me to a duel, or something?" he asked, laughing. "I'm sorry, mate, but I left my sword at home."

Robin reacted before any of the parties present thought he would and within two steps he had X pressed against the wall. "You think this is funny?"

X remained calm, with the twist of his lips still in the perfect place to mock Robin. "I think it's a riot," he answered. "You getting all worked up over some guy talking to your girl you've been too lazy to make a move on yourself," he said, his voice low. "It's bloody brilliant, it is," he continued, still in his accent.

"_I _don't," Raven spoke up before Robin could. "I don't think it's funny at all," she added when she saw she had both their attentions. "And you've still got quite a bit to learn if you think I'm going to stand around while you two duke it out like this was the 18th century and I was some damsel in distress," she said succinctly. "Both of you," she added, looking from one to the other. "I'm leaving," she announced, pushing past X and sidestepping around Robin to walk back into the dining room. She grabbed her coat on the way passed their table and waved to Ranka-san as she exited the restaurant.

X grinned. "She's a spitfire, gotta love that," he said, more to himself than to Robin, but Robin heard and glared at him regardless. "Well," he said. "Are you going to 'take me in' or go after her?" he asked. "What a dilemma!" he mocked.

Robin narrowed his eyes at him. "This isn't over," he said, his tone low and careful. "If you know what's best for you, you'll stay the hell away," he warned, and with a quick shove backwards, released X's shirt, turning and walking out of the restaurant after Raven.

"I really think that's up to her!" X called after him.

Robin ignored him, exiting the restaurant and catching up to Raven halfway down the sidewalk. He reached out for her arm to stop her, but having sensed his presence, she shifted her arm out of his reach and continued walking briskly down the mostly empty street, stopping only at the intersection to wait for several cars to pass before she could cross.

Robin took the opportunity to stand in front of her. "Just what the hell was that?" he demanded as soon as she looked at him.

"That?" she asked, and he could feel the indignation in her demeanor. "That was two little boys playing who's got the bigger penis," she answered coldly.

"So you would've wanted me to just let him go, is that it?" he asked, his tone giving way to anger. "Just like you've been doing these last few weeks?" he added.

"Oh, _I __let him go_, did I?" she asked sarcasm dripping from her voice. "Just as you did just now?" she asked caustically, but she didn't let him answer. "You know as well as I do that he's absolutely right and we have _no_ proof of his actual identity," she reminded him. "If we were to take him in and claim he's Red-X what would that do?" she questioned. "He could just say he isn't and without any tangible proof of his identity, how long do you think it would take even a half-baked lawyer to get him out?" she demanded, ignoring the rumble of thunder in the distance and the clouds gathering over the city. "Forty-five minutes? An hour?" She pointed back in the direction of the restaurant. "He knows that." She shook her head as more thunder sounded. "You think he'd have come to me showing me what he looks like if he didn't know we couldn't do a damn thing about it without catching him in the act--?" something in his eyes stopped her from continuing, and the frustrated anger in her expression died away as she read his expression. "You do, don't you?" she asked, her tone surprised. "You think I've had a way of bringing him in but haven't because..." she trailed off and shook her head. "Why do you think I'd let a criminal get away if I had a way to bring him in lawfully, Robin?" she asked.

He didn't answer and she shook her head again, just as the sky opened up and the rain began falling in buckets, drenching them in seconds. She shook off the hand he'd left on her arm and with a glare, started to stalk off down the alley. "So much for trusting me," she threw over her shoulder.

Before she had gotten three feet from him, Robin caught up with her, grabbing her wrist again and whirling her around to face him. "You're not the problem!" he exclaimed. "It's him I don't trust."

She didn't look angry anymore and that, more than anything, twisted Robin's insides. "And yet it's me you're questioning," she pointed out calmly, the rain falling off her hair and down her cheeks like tears. "Trusting me includes believing that I won't throw away my morals and my loyalties just because some guy tries to seduce me," she stopped looked away, taking a deep breath. She exhaled, releasing her breath slowly and turned to him, her eyes broadcasting her disappointment. "You either trust me or you don't, Robin, there can be no in between."

Robin searched her face as if he thought he'd find the answers there. "I trust you," he said, his voice tired. "I trust you," he repeated, stronger. "But I don't want you to get hurt."

Raven kept his eyes, her expression once again neutral. "I can take care of myself," she answered.

"I don't mean physically," he countered.

"You can't mean emotionally," she said.

Before he could think about it, he had raised a hand to brush away a strand of hair away from her forehead where the rain had flattened it. He left his hand near to her temple for a second too long. "I know you, Raven," he said softly, just barely above the rush of the rain hitting the pavement and the metal of the fire escape stairs around them.

"If that were true, then you'd know I won't become some stupid love struck fool just because he pays me a few compliments," she answered, just as softly. "If you knew me, you'd know that I'd learned my lesson well when it comes to bad boys," she added and she was searching his face as thoroughly as he had searched hers. She reached up with her free hand, took the hand that still lingered close to her temple, and brought it down between them. She released him and cocked her head to the side. "If you _really_ knew me, you'd know that I know _you_ well enough to know when you're making excuses."

She could see the confusion on his face as he worked through her statements, but before he had completely worked through them, she slipped her arm relatively easily out of his loosened grip and faced him squarely. "If you trust me, then _trust_ me," she said, earnestly. "And the next time you want to warn me about my getting close to some guy, don't bother unless you're willing to come to me with the truth," she added, and, before he could speak, she turned and walked away.

"I'll see you at the Tower," she said as she disappeared around the mouth of the alley, walking in the opposite direction from where he'd parked his bike.

_xxxxxx_

**A/N:** Yes, I know it's short. I know! ::hides:: Put away the pitchforks and torches, please! There's good news! I actually know where this is going NOW. Which means, it shouldn't take me another two years to post up another chapter! Yey! (yes? no?)

I know there's no way anyone would say this was "worth the wait", but...was it somewhat good? Are y'all glad to get off that cliffie?

Did anyone get something pretty big that happens in this chapter????

(You guys are usually really good at getting my subtextual clues here, so, I'm hoping it was as good a little clue as I thought it was when I wrote it!)

Anyway, if you still decide to come after anyone for this chapter...::shoves Puck in front of her and points over his head:: get him. He's at fault. Totally. He's the muse.


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